How Did Feathers Evolve? - Carl Zimmer

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How did feathers evolve? - Carl Zimmer

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-did-feathers-evolve-carl-zimmer

1. What's an anatomical detail that some dinosaurs share with birds (that no other animal does)?
a. Scales
b. Beaks
c. Wishbones
d. Eggs

2. Dinosaurs used feathers to fly.
a. True; flying dinosaurs sometime reached the size of small airplanes
b. False; dinosaurs weren't coordinated enough to fly
c. True; feathers are delicate but supported dinosaurs at heights of up to 1,000 feet
d. False; dinosaur arms were too short to support flight

3. What's the use of a peacock's tail feathers?
a. To attract a mate
b. They help it fly longer distances
c. Peacocks use their tails to swim
d. The sweep small bugs into piles, making it easier to eat

4. What does Zimmer mean by accident of physics?
a. Feathered dinosaur arms may have allowed dinosaurs to run faster uphill and glide short distances after jumping
b. The advantages dinosaurs with feathered arms had could have led to a natural selection of longer feathered dinosaur arms
c. The intention of the feathers most likely started as one thing and shifted to a completely different thing (the lift created from the feathers was an accident of physics)
d. All of the above

5. Approximately how long did it take from the time the first feather evolved until the first animal took flight?
a. 1 million years
b. 100,000 years
c. 50 million years
d. 500 years

6. Explain how we know what color dinosaur feathers were.