[__ Science __ ] Why Birds Are Not Dinosaurs (And Why It Matters)

[AIG.com]

Examining creationist arguments about the relationship between birds and dinosaurs

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[jaybo]

Examining creationist arguments about the relationship between birds and dinosaurs

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Who cares?

 

[Barbarian]

Surprisingly, AIG seems to still be unaware that many dinosaurs had feathers. Even most creationists now freely admit the fact. Birds are dinosaurs in the same sense that humans are primates. We have all the apomorphic characters of primates, and birds have all the apomorphic characters of dinosaurs.

Not all primates are humans and not all dinosaurs are birds. But all humans are primates and all birds are dinosaurs.

But it's interesting that very, very few people can name even one avian character that is not also true of at least some dinosaurs. And yes, some non-avian dinosaurs could fly.

 

[Barbarian]

Modern birds evolved from dinosaurs, but it’s not clear how well birds’ ancient dino ancestors could fly (SN: 10/28/16). Now, a look at the fossilized feet of one nonavian dinosaur suggests that it may have hunted on the wing, like some hawks today.
The crow-sized Microraptor had toe pads very similar to those of modern raptors that can hunt in the air, researchers report December 20 in Nature Communications. That means the feathered, four-winged dinosaur probably used its feet to catch flying prey too, paleobiologist Michael Pittman of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and colleagues say (SN: 7/16/20).

This dinosaur might have used its feet to snag prey in midair like modern hawks

Fossilized toe pads suggest a hawklike hunting style in Microraptor, a dinosaur that some scientists think could hunt while flying.

www.sciencenews.org

 

[Barbarian]

As someone commented, those AIG arguments could equally be used to claim that bats are not mammals. Which would be consistent. A literal reading of the Bible says bats are birds.