The Dinosaur Feather Mystery Pt.4

TDFM fourth part.

What is evo-devo?

Watch and learn how the mystery of how feathers evolved is piece by piece revealed.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights of this video which are property of the discovery network and it's respected authors.


Epidexipteryx hui, the feathered fossil dinosaur older than Archaeopteryx! http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2008/10/22/shake-your-jurassic-tail-fe...

Category:

Education

Tags:

• dinosaur
• feather
• mystery
• bird
• evolution
• in
• developement

[goshawker07]

I've been a evolutionary bio-geneticist for almost 20 years. Unfortunately Evo-devo is only going to fuel the evidence for creation. We are going in the wrong direction. We have yet to find compelling evidence for an un-guided natural explanation for the complexity of life. Then we show how its done under extremely sophisticated molecular manipulating lab conditions. I hope all the funding doesn't go to this or we will loose all the ground we have fought so hard to gain.

[pienipaha]

It's called natural selection. It explains it all quite neatly.

[drummerjc1995]

tubeuler feathers? In other words FUR! lol

[pienipaha]

Yeah protofeathers were similar to fur.

Dave, the fuzzy raptor, is just so damn cute!

[NomadSoul76]

Didn't contain what I was hoping to see. I was hoping to see the details on how feathers can be turned into scales in a bird with a small genetic change.

And a google search for that info brings up almost as much creationist propaganda as anything else.

I watched the rest of the show, though. I appreciated the commentary on alternative uses for wings, and how a ground dweller could gain advantage from "half a wing".

[pienipaha]

Scales didn't turn into feathers so of course there was nothing about it.

There is a sort of "sequel! to this that concentrates solely on genetics and how scientists are trying to meddle with bird genes to "remake" dinosaurs. (A funny way to put it since birds are dinosaurs.)

I have the film but haven't uploaded because it has all ready been put on youtube some time ago (though with a different name). I think it was "dinosaur to bird" by djarm67. If I remember correctly.

[mak1759]

How do the likes of Cameron, VFX, and "MR" Hovind see this and not come away say "Wow ! you don't think we could have been....."

How do they walk away with fingers in their ears, yelling "CROCODUCK, CROCODUCK,CROCODUCK!!!!" and still have a clear conscious?

FEAR THE BUNNY ! 8)

[dingodavid]

@goshawker07 - "I hope all the funding doesn't go to this or we will loose all the ground we have fought so hard to gain."

Sorry Goshawker, but I have grave doubts whether you are a professional biologist of any kind. First and foremost, I would expect any experienced biologist to be able to spell the word 'lose' correctly.

[TRYCLOPS1]

I love science!!!!! xD

[TRYCLOPS1]

Biological life has no evolutionary final goal or end. Its most important goal is to procreate and adapt to the environment; so that it survives. Luck has something to do with it as well as the environment, other life around it, everything pretty much. But something that really shaped feathers was picky females. They selected the traits carefully. Not knowing what those traits could become but maybe a slow step by step thing. Females are the selectors in birds mating. (Or most birds I guess idk

[TRYCLOPS1]

Evolution seems to be more a consequence than an objective. Random mutations that species use for their advantage that are selected and then re-shaped or refined by more mutations that are selected and refined as well. Mutations that are not useful sometimes are then re-designed by more mutations and selective breeding. And by these forces they become positive traits. And then it seems as if it was an intended goal to us.

[TRYCLOPS1]

Then... The feathers were so big that when displaying the mating rituals they will move their legs-wings up and down and jump and the higher jumpers would be the most attractive. Then they kept breeding with a likeness for more and more complex structure feathers until those feathers were in the right number, size and shape for flight. It happened as consequence of selective breeding and not as an objective. Females kind of controlled this, as many things in evolution too lol.

[TRYCLOPS1]

I think feathers were probably a random genetic mutation of those skin spiky thingys and for some reason became attractive and useful for heat, then the ones with bigger hairy feathers became the most attractive then another mutation of hairs coming out of the feathers came and the ones with bigger feathers were more attractive and they found them useful for scaring off bigger predators and for mating.

[Spieldamelenium]

@goshawker07 Jut because we can make something doesn't mean it was made.

[zhrmod]

Beside the reasons stated in the vid to explain why small non-flying dinos (smaller theropods) developed feathers (body warmth, exibitionism and warming the eggs), I strongly believe they forgot an important function of feathers: The illusion (and thereof intimidation) of bigger size. Knowing that those small theropods co-existed with the bigger theropods like the large Tyrannosaurus Rex and other yet larger dinos definitely assures me that this might be the case.

[jajacob410]

Sonic Hedgehog gene? Dear God...