Birds are feathered animals that have wings, lay eggs, and are warm-blooded. They are the living descendants of certain dinosaurs and can be found all over the world today.
birds
/burds/
noun
Birds come in many shapes and sizes, from tiny hummingbirds to large ostriches. They have beaks instead of teeth, and most can fly, though some like penguins and ostriches cannot. Birds are the only dinosaurs that survived the mass extinction event about 66 million years ago.
Scientists have discovered that birds evolved from a group of dinosaurs called theropods. These were mostly meat-eating dinosaurs that walked on two legs. Over millions of years, some of these dinosaurs developed feathers, wings, and the ability to fly, eventually becoming the birds we see today.
Look out your window and you might see a bird flying by or perched on a tree. That bird is a living dinosaur! It has kept many features from its dinosaur ancestors, like hollow bones and a wishbone, but has also developed new ones like feathers and a beak.
Did you know that the closest living relatives to T. rex are chickens? It might be hard to believe when you look at a chicken, but scientists have found that birds like chickens share the most recent common ancestor with the mighty T. rex!
How are birds different from other dinosaurs? Birds have several unique features that set them apart from their dinosaur ancestors. They have feathers covering their bodies, beaks instead of teeth, and most can fly. Birds are also warm-blooded and lay hard-shelled eggs, features they share with some non-avian dinosaurs.
When did birds first appear? The first bird-like dinosaurs appeared about 150-160 million years ago. The most famous early bird-like dinosaur is Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago. However, modern birds as we know them today evolved after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs, about 66 million years ago.
Are all birds descendants of dinosaurs? Yes, all birds are descendants of a group of dinosaurs called theropods. This means that birds are actually living dinosaurs! They’re the only dinosaur group that survived the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period.
