According to reports, some time ago, scientists discovered a small dinosaur fossil that seemed to be an owl. It is a small theorth of carnivorous dinosaur with a body length of only about 0.6 meters, which is smaller than a domestic pet cat.
Through fossil research, this little dinosaur lived in the current Mongolian Gobi Desert about 81 million years ago. Of course, during the Cretaceous period, this place was not the Gobi Desert.
The owl-like little dinosaur
can be seen through the modeling and restoration of the fossil that this little dinosaur looks very similar to an owl and has a pair of big eyes, which allows it to move at noon, or in other words, it may be a magical dinosaur that moves at noon.
Scientists named this small dinosaur Shuvuuia. It did not survive for a long time on Earth. Shuvuuia was extinct about 75 million years ago, which means that this small dinosaur was not competitive on Earth at that time, so it only survived for about 6 million years.
Fortunately, Shuvuuiia's fossils are very complete, which also allows scientists to better understand its living habits. Through research, scientists have discovered that Shuvuuiia has nocturnal vision capabilities, and this is the first time that this feature has been discovered in dinosaurs.
So, as the "night hunter", Shuvuuia, would it be the ancestor of the owl? Further research is needed for this issue. Although modern scientific research believes that the ancestors of birds originated from the theropod dinosaurs, the current mainstream view believes that the ancestors of primitive birds evolved single, which means that many birds in life evolved later and did not appear at the same time. Who was the ancestor of the owl?
From the perspective of traceability, no direct ancestor of owls was found among the existing bird fossils. However, some studies believe that the ancestor of owls should be very ancient and may have appeared in the Cretaceous period.
As early as more than 100 years ago, scientists discovered primitive bird fossils with many owl characteristics in Romania. At that time, many researchers believed that the ancestors of the owl were found, but due to insufficient evidence, they have not been finalized.
This time, the same is true for Shuvuuiia fossils. One possibility is that the ancestors of the owl evolved separately. If scientists can confirm that Shuvuuiia is a small theorth dinosaur living in a tree, then perhaps some mystery about the origin of the owl can be found in it. Why do
Owls are active at night?
Compared with other birds, it is different from the daytime activities and foraging. Owls can be said to do the opposite. So, what exactly causes this? If it weren't for the habit of night hunting inherited from ancestors, the answer would be another possibility: it was developed acquired.
Through fossil research, some people believe that the identity of an owl becoming a "night walker" began about 34 million years ago. If this view is true, it also means that before that, the living habits of owls were the same as other birds. As for the reason, it is probably because the small owls have no advantage during the day foraging.
Because other raptors and carnivorous birds ended up foraging during the day, no other raptors came out to compete with owls for prey at night, which is also the key to owls' survival. After all, they are also one of the oldest birds on the earth. If it weren't for the "night walker", the owls might have become extinct long ago.
In addition, researchers also said that although owls have found a special evolutionary path for themselves, they have caused the cones to disappear in the process of becoming "Night Walker", so that they can no longer see the color, which also makes them the only birds on the earth that cannot see the color. Do birds really originate from dinosaurs?
Since the ancestors of owls are mentioned, let us discuss the question mentioned above: Are the ancestors of birds really dinosaurs?
In the western Liaoning region of my country, the fossils such as Chinese dragon birds can be used as one of the evidence. In addition, the view that birds originated from dinosaurs is also the mainstream international view, but the reason why it has not been confirmed until today is that the skeletons of birds are very light, which makes it very difficult to preserve their fossils.
The fossils in the transitional link cannot be found, which can help humans fully sort out the accurate origin of birds. Just like studying the origin of human beings, the existing fossils cannot be confirmed. Human beings originated from Australopithecus. The same is true for other animals. To thoroughly understand the evolutionary history of various species on Earth, you need to find fossils in each link. Just like the Shuvuuiia fossil discovered this time, if you want to prove whether it has anything to do with the ancestors of the owl, you still need to further search for the species fossils that have a connection with Shuvuuiia 75 million years later. Find the answer through gene tracing, and wait and see!
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