Can birds possibly thank dinosaur’s for their continued existence in the modern world? Birds are very similar to us biologically. Except they have smaller lungs and are obviously much smaller in size.
I found this to be pretty interesting. Not necessarily a business oriented topic, but a good informative piece. A newly discovered fossil was found in China that showed that birds evolved very early , while they were still dinosaurs. A team of researchers from China and South Africa published a study of what they believe to be lung tissue in the fossil. This is the first time evidence of lungs has been found in an avian dinosaur fossil, and it may help explain why one group of the avian dinosaurs(Ornithumorpha) was able to survive the extinction event that killed the dinosaurs and continue to evolve into modern birds(Eschner). Scientists believe that the evidence of lungs explains part of the morphological sophistication that may have allowed one lineage of Ornithumorphs to survive the great extinction and evolve into birds.
Modern birds typically have the most complex structure and the most efficient respiratory system among vertebrates, according to the paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scientists. The design of their respiratory system and air sacs means that birds are able to take in much more fresh, oxygenated air with each breath than us mammals can, since even a full breath in our very own lungs still has old air that is depleted of oxygen within it. In a way, you can say that birds are elite athletes with great lung capacity. Which they really are if you think about it
In the absence of soft tissue evidence, paleontologists have traditionally made guesses about organs based on fossilized bones and the dinosaurs closest modern descendants, the crocodilians and the birds. However, there might be more soft tissue out there than the field currently knows not just in new finds like this one from China. Occasionally, paleontologists take a new look at old evidence and discover hat these structures were there all along. Pretty interesting If i do say so myself.
https://www.popsci.com/lungs-birds-dinosaur-survival#page-3
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