About 66 million years ago, a giant asteroid hit Earth and radically changed our planet’s ecosystem. This disaster caused the extinction of dinosaurs and the evolution of new life forms. Now a new study has found traces of this massive extinction in the genes of today’s birds.
The scars left by the dinosaur extinction on the genetics of birds are shocking
Scientists have obtained important findings by examining the genetic traces of the first birds that appeared after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Researchers from the University of California detected genetic changes in the DNA of birds dating back to the last period of dinosaurs. This study reveals how extinction affected the evolutionary development of birds. In the study, significant changes were observed in the genetic structure of birds following the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
The researchers specifically examined the 5-million-year period immediately following the asteroid impact 66 million years ago. During this time, significant changes occurred in the genetic structure of birds, such as body size, metabolism and offspring development. For example, birds were found to have become much smaller than avian dinosaurs, and their young were born without feathers and required intensive parental care. However, some modern birds, such as ducks and chickens, have features that do not require this care.
The team used advanced software to determine how these genetic changes affected the bird biology of the dinosaur extinction. The results show how changes in DNA composition occurred due to the extinction of dinosaurs. These findings allow us to better understand how the catastrophe of the end of the dinosaurs affected the evolutionary development of birds.
Research shows that the extinction of dinosaurs affected not only ecosystems but also genetic structures. Scientists emphasize that such research will help us understand the profound effects of mass extinctions on organismal biology. In the future, these findings may enable further discoveries in evolutionary biology and genetics research.
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