Happy National Bird Day.
Whenever I think of birds, I think of dinosaurs, because as we all know, birds are dinosaurs. However, what came to my mind today was a question often asked by paleontologists. Why did avian dinosaurs survive the K-Pg extinction (the one with the asteroid) while non-avian dinosaurs did not?
(My actual question is how did any animal survive the extinction event, but in honor of National Bird Day, I’ll focus on birds.)
There are many theories, but I learned of one possibility from a book I read and a paper written in 2018. The ancestors of birds today survived (even though Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops didn’t) because they burrowed underground.
Birds that lived in the trees or walked around on the ground would have faced devastation when the asteroid hit, just like all the other dinosaurs. However, birds (and other animals) that burrowed were able to survive. As the world recovered, they filled empty habitats, like trees, water, and land. But burrowing was the key.
When you hear or see a bird today, remember that they are dinosaurs, and they all evolved from birds that burrowed. It’s fun to think about as they soar over our heads.