Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Debate

[Jimmy Neutron]

[url]
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrate ... volve.html[/url]
Good article to read for where wings formed/ adapted. ^^^^

[Koujaku;]

[url]
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrate ... volve.html[/url]
Good article to read for where wings formed/ adapted. ^^^^

So if evolution of wings took millions of years, how did the offspring of a halfway-evolved pterodactyl survive? They couldn't run well or fly well. How would they survive predators? They would have died out quickly.

[Grimace]

But what did pterodactyls evolve from? Did their wings evolve gradually?

Also the picture you provided is a drawing of a velociraptor.

Yes, but pterodactyls were a totally separate thing. They weren't dinosaurs, nd had nothing to do with the evolution of birds.


Also as far as the monkeys being afraid of water thing, thats usually because most monkeys/apes are incapable of swimming.

[dragonsapphic]

[url]
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrate ... volve.html[/url]
Good article to read for where wings formed/ adapted. ^^^^

So if evolution of wings took millions of years, how did the offspring of a halfway-evolved pterodactyl survive? They couldn't run well or fly well. How would they survive predators? They would have died out quickly.

Because natural selection means only the strongest survive.
Wings began to form because they were necessary. For some reason (I could research exactly why, but I'm not in the mood right now) the organism that mutated wing-like appendages had an elevated chance of survival and were able to breed over those who did not.

Most of the species on this planet that have ever existed have died out; it was actually relatively rare for a species to have a mutation that helped out.

[Jimmy Neutron]

[url]
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrate ... volve.html[/url]
Good article to read for where wings formed/ adapted. ^^^^

So if evolution of wings took millions of years, how did the offspring of a halfway-evolved pterodactyl survive? They couldn't run well or fly well. How would they survive predators? They would have died out quickly.

Maybe they had adapted to their habitat by their skin camouflaging them from predators

[Grimace]

[url]
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vertebrate ... volve.html[/url]
Good article to read for where wings formed/ adapted. ^^^^

So if evolution of wings took millions of years, how did the offspring of a halfway-evolved pterodactyl survive? They couldn't run well or fly well. How would they survive predators? They would have died out quickly.

Gliding.
A pterodactyl with our without wings could run fairly well. Pterodactlys probably started out as something that lived in trees and was a glider.

Heres the best example of how a pterodactyl ran. Theyre thought to have used more or less the same locomotion as vampire bats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWOUZAa5vlQ

Some of the biggest pterosaurs weren't even thought to have flown very often.

[Grimace]

Most of the species on this planet that have ever existed have died out; it was actually relatively rare for a species to have a mutation that helped out.

THIS.
People need to keep in mind evolution isn't things magically getting better. 99.999999% of random mutations are bad, and you never see them become a thing in the population. Its very rare for a useful one to pop up, but it happens, and thats what drives evolution.

[Qiokkabee]

Oh no.
You guys changed the subject to eggs and chickens to pterodactyls and then dinosaurs and- haha! XD

[SodapopQueen]

Hi, it's been a while since I've looked at this thread.

I don't understand why everyone's giving so much credit to mutations. I mean, I know they can make drastic changes that could evolve a species, but isn't it rare for mutations to occur? I think more evolution would happen due to just the variation that's present in all species. Animals with more favorable variations would survive better and longer, and have more children.

[Jimmy Neutron]

Bumb