{"id":35312,"date":"2018-05-24T11:03:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T15:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/?p=35312"},"modified":"2018-06-27T11:05:01","modified_gmt":"2018-06-27T15:05:01","slug":"asteroid-impact-grounded-bird-ancestors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/asteroid-impact-grounded-bird-ancestors\/","title":{"rendered":"Asteroid Impact Grounded Bird Ancestors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/FINAL_Cover-Phillip-Krzeminski.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/FINAL_Cover-Phillip-Krzeminski-720x884.jpeg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/FINAL_Cover-Phillip-Krzeminski-768x943.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/FINAL_Cover-Phillip-Krzeminski-1280x1571.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/FINAL_Cover-Phillip-Krzeminski-480x589.jpeg 480w\" sizes=\"\" alt=\"The Current Biology cover is an artist\u2019s conception of a tinamou-like ground-dwelling species at the time of the asteroid impact. Painting by Cornell Lab Bartels Science Illustrator Phillip Krzeminski.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>An artist\u2019s conception of a tinamou-like ground-dwelling species at the time of the asteroid impact. <em>Painting by Cornell Lab Bartels Science Illustrator Phillip Krzeminski.<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/FINAL_Cover-Phillip-Krzeminski.jpeg\">Click here to view larger image<\/a>.<\/figcaption>\n              <\/figure><\/div>\n<p>A bird watcher straining to see a tiny tuft of feathers hopping in the treetops may find it hard to believe its ancient ancestors lived on the ground. An international team of scientists has concluded the asteroid that smashed into Earth 66 million years ago not only wiped out the dinosaurs, but erased the world\u2019s forests and the species that lived in trees. The researchers say only small ground-dwelling birds survived the mass extinction, profoundly changing the course of bird evolution. Their findings were just published in the journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cell.com\/current-biology\/fulltext\/S0960-9822(18)30534-7\"><em>Current Biology<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group sidebar-alignright sidebar-space order-bottom\"><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\"><span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\" id=\"hs-cta-a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\"><!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]--><a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/95627\/a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/95627\/a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3.png\"  alt=\"New self-paced course: Learn How to Identify Bird Songs, Click to Learn More\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a><\/span><script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> hbspt.cta.load(95627, 'a8fe3c9a-217b-40fd-b1ff-2bb76ebe2cf3', {}); <\/script><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n<!--<span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\">\r\n    <span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\" id=\"hs-cta-394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\">-->\r\n        <!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]-->\r\n        <!--<a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/95627\/394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\"  target=\"_blank\" ><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/95627\/394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd.png\"  alt=\"Join the Cornell Lab\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>\r\n    <\/span>\r\n    <script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script>\r\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n        hbspt.cta.load(95627, '394b2cc2-4447-4677-b18b-d2f2de5b57cd', {});\r\n    <\/script>\r\n<\/span>-->\r\n<!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhat this means is that all modern tree-dwelling bird lineages can trace their ancestry to non-tree-dwelling species in the wake of the asteroid impact,\u201d says lead author Daniel Field of the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom. \u201cIt took about 1,000 years for the forests to regenerate. It took a lot longer for some bird species to evolve the shorter legs and grasping feet needed to perch and nest in trees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s estimated that the initial meteor impact at the end of the Cretaceous period (also known as the K-Pg event), blew down trees in a 1,500 km (932 miles) radius, leaving the 110-mile wide Chicxulub Crater on the lip of Mexico\u2019s Yucatan peninsula. The\u00a0 effects were felt long after. Intense heat set off wildfires that turned forests into ash fields. Acid rain killed off even more vegetation. Soot in the atmosphere blocked the sun and prevented photosynthesis. A treeless world would not have been a pleasant place.<\/p>\n<p>But the cataclysm left useful clues for scientists delving into ancient history. One line of inquiry for this study focused on a comparison of plant fossils, pollen, and spores from geological layers before, during, and after the asteroid hit. Some of the evidence comes from a place called John\u2019s Nose in North Dakota.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe John\u2019s Nose site is one of several where you can clearly see differences in plant life before and after the mass extinction,\u201d explains co-author and Smithsonian paleobotanist Antoine Bercovici. \u201cWe examined the geological layers at John\u2019s Nose as well as at sites in New Zealand, Japan, and Europe. At all these locations we found a huge spike in fern growth immediately after the asteroid impact, which indicates the deforestation was global.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n              <figure class=\"size-large alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Map-Chicxulub-1280x905.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Map-Chicxulub-720x509.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Map-Chicxulub-768x543.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Map-Chicxulub-1280x905.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Map-Chicxulub-480x339.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Map-Chicxulub.jpg 1345w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" alt=\"Chicxulub Crater. Image courtesy of GoogleMaps and NASA\/JPL\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>The Chicxulub Crater. In the top inset image you can see a faint semi-circular edge marked by the dotted line in the lower image. This marks a portion of the Chicxulub Crater left by the asteroid impact. <em>Image courtesy of GoogleMaps and <a href=\"https:\/\/photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov\/catalog\/PIA03379\">NASA\/JPL<\/a>.<\/em><\/figcaption>\n              <\/figure>\n            <\/div>\n<p>Ferns are sometimes called \u201cdisaster plants\u201d because they typically spread rapidly in areas that have been denuded of vegetation\u2014a pattern that continues today in places devastated by human activities or natural disaster.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/JohnsNose-Bercovic-720x828.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/JohnsNose-Bercovic-720x828.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/JohnsNose-Bercovic-768x883.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/JohnsNose-Bercovic-1280x1472.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/JohnsNose-Bercovic-480x552.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/JohnsNose-Bercovic.jpg 1300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" alt=\"The K\u2013Pg boundary at the John's Nose site in Southwestern North Dakota. The pale line in the outcrop represents material ejected by the Chicxulub asteroid impact and marks the onset of forest community collapse. Photo courtesy of Antoine Bercovic, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>The K\u2013Pg boundary at the John's Nose site in Southwestern North Dakota. The pale line in the outcrop represents material ejected by the Chicxulub asteroid impact and marks the onset of forest community collapse. <em>Photo courtesy of Antoine Bercovici, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.<\/em><\/figcaption>\n              <\/figure><\/div>\n<p>Study co-author and Cornell Lab of Ornithology doctoral candidate Jacob Berv used avian family trees (phylogenies) to infer the characteristics of birds in the distant past. This line of inquiry also led to the conclusion that, after the K-Pg event, the ancestors of modern birds had their feet on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe avian family tree tells you about the hierarchical relationships among bird species,\u201d Berv explains. \u201cThe group that\u2019s the sister group to every other bird lineage today is known as the palaeognaths\u2014including ostriches, cassowaries, kiwis, and so on\u2014all ground-dwelling. From that and other related evidence we can infer that the bird ancestors that survived the asteroid impact were also likely to be ground birds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The fact that the paleobotanical (fossil plant) data agree with the bird data is one of the reasons the study authors are confident in their conclusions. Their research shows that every tree-dwelling bird today is the result of an eons-long tale of survival, and the product of uncounted evolutionary tweaks that allowed them to\u2014at last\u2014return to the trees.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group well-gray has-lightgray-background-color has-background\">\n<h4>Reference<\/h4>\n<p>Field D.J., Bercovici, A., Berv, J.S., Dunn, R., Fastovsky, D.E., Lyson, T.R., Vajda, V., Gauthier, J.A. (2018). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cell.com\/current-biology\/fulltext\/S0960-9822(18)30534-7\">Early Evolution of Modern Birds Structured by Global Forest Collapse at the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction<\/a>. <em>Current Biology<\/em> 28: 1-7.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bird watcher straining to see a tiny tuft of feathers hopping in the treetops may find it hard to believe its ancient ancestors lived on the ground. An international<a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/news\/asteroid-impact-grounded-bird-ancestors\/\" title=\"ReadAsteroid Impact Grounded Bird Ancestors\">&#8230; Read more 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