h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Cool bird, Willem. I thought all the historical relastionships of bird families was interesting. Thank you for lovely painting and explanations.

Hello Elektra! Glad you liked that. I hope I can see some of them in the wild someday.

Meanwhile ... here's a vid I hope you enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTcfDCjBqV0&feature=youtu.be

Oh ... and of course there's this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTT8Lxjh0Cg

Wow, great youtubes, thanks for those----the feathers on those birds or paradise are really astonishing. The one looks like a ball of feathers as it struts its stuff is very .

I thought this an interesting treatment on the early differentiation between the fishes and the amphibians.

http://chem.tufts.edu/science/evolution/fish-amphibian-transition.htm

The differentiation between what became mammal-like and bird-like land dwelling vertebrates apparently took place at the same time, with differentiation from an eight toed lobe finned fish into three toed, or 'bird-like' and five toed or 'mammal-like' lineages, the two groups of toes served by separate groups of carpal and tarsal bones attached to the radius and ulna respectively with the carpal groups and the tibia and fibula respectively with the tarsal groups.

Something else that happened around this time, differentiation of mammal and bird like groups on a basis of chromosomal gender differentiation, the XY configuration coding for females with birds, (or their ancestors) but males with mammals (or their ancestors).

At any rate, the fundamental differentiation between bird-like and mammal-like land dwelling vertebrates apparently began in the Silurian, long before any of the more overt (and superficial) traits distinguishing modern mammals and birds emerged.

Thanks for that ITIWBS! I'll need some time to read it ...