Between the Middle Jurassic and Holocene, birds evolved an enormous diversity of behaviours. The distribution and antiquity of these behaviours is difficult to establish given a relatively poor fossil record. Rare crop, stomach and gut contents typically reveal diets consistent with morphology but stem-members of some lineages (including Cariamae and Coraciiformes) seem to have been different in ecology from their extant relatives. Most of our ideas about the behaviour of fossil birds are based on analogy (with skull form, limb proportions and claw curvature being used to guide hypotheses). However, this has limitations given that some extinct taxa lack extant analogues and that some extant taxa do not behave as predicted by osteology. Reductionist methods have been used to test predation style and running ability in fossil taxa including moa, Gastornis and phorusrhacids. Virtually nothing is known of nesting and nest-building behaviour but colonial nesting is known from the Cretaceous onwards. Rare vegetative nests demonstrate modern nest-building from the Eocene onwards. Ornamental rectrices indicate that sexually driven display drove some aspects of feather evolution and evidence for loud vocal behaviour and intraspecific combat is known for some taxa.Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.From the information in the passage, which of the following could be a problem associated with learning about primitive birds using their fossil remains?The fossils are often in a decrepit state, and so do not provide an accurate representation of the actual physical traits of the birdsSome of the birds whose fossils are being studied do not have any related species in modern times to compare the fossils withThe fossils do not provide any information about the diets or nesting behaviour of primitive birds

Fossil body parts of an animal and its location of excavation confirm that these animal species underwent minimal adaptations from one period to the next.

Fossils that have characteristics common to both an ancestral species and descendent species are called

As a scientific consultant on a movie about humans colonizing Mars, you have been asked to consider what fossil evidence would support the former existence of animal-like creatures on the planet. This prompts you to suggest which of the following pieces of evidence demonstrate a strong fossil record for animal-like creatures in the movie?Check All That ApplyFossilized creatures with evidence of head and tail ends as well as evidence of bilateral symmetry.Fossilized creatures with evidence of head and tail ends as well as evidence of bilateral symmetry.Fossilized creatures with evidence of other creatures inside them that have been partially digested in a digestive tract.Fossilized creatures with evidence of other creatures inside them that have been partially digested in a digestive tract.Fossilized genetic material that, when engineered into protist cell genomes, promotes the production of unique extracellular junctions between protists. Fossilized genetic material that, when engineered into protist cell genomes, promotes the production of unique extracellular junctions between protists.Fossilized creatures with evidence of cell walls surrounding inflexible cells.

Fossils provide clues about the history of life on Earth. Paleontologists discovered a fossilized creature with a segmented body and a hard exoskeleton. They also found faint traces of what might have been small limbs.Based on these characteristics, which of the following is the MOST LIKELY classification for this fossilized creature? Is it a FISHINSECTAMPHIBIANSMAMMALS

Which of these phenomena does NOT illustrate the principle of gradualism? Select one:a.At a digging site, scientists discover hundreds of years of buried fossils of birds with short, curved beaks. Directly underneath those fossils, the scientists find hundreds of years of fossils of the same bird, but with long, straight beaks.b.During the Early Eocene period, species of horses arose and slowly developed over time.c.Fossil records of land plants show that angiosperm seeds evolved about 380 million years ago, the vascular tissue about 409 million years ago, and multicellular gametangia and cuticles about 425 million years ago.d.Based on the evidence in the fossil record, scientists determined that the average tail fin length of members of a particular fish species increased by approximately one centimeter every 20 years.