Evolution of the Giant Flightless Birds

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The ratites or palaeognaths, animals like Emus, Ostriches and Cassowaries are incredibly interesting animals, being some of the largest birds that have ever existed and possessing many primitive looking features that give them a very unique look. However, they also have a very mysterious past, they are a group of closely related flightless birds yet have a wide spread among most of the southern land masses.
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Sources:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...
dinosaurs.group.uq.edu.au/fil...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24855...
web.archive.org/web/201106100...
royalsocietypublishing.org/do...

Опубликовано:

16 ноя 2022

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Комментарии : 475

@arrowtongue Год назад

It disappoints me so much whenever I hear of the Moa and Elephant Bird's recent extinction, it's so upsetting to know we were this close to seeing baffling animals like that today. The Dodo as well.

@JustAnotherRandomGuy-_- Год назад

Can we clone them? I wanna see a living prehistoric animal that recently went extinct.

@MrTheblackopsdude Год назад

@@JustAnotherRandomGuy-_- cloning has a problem. If you clone something, you transfer on all of its damaged DNA. Dolly the Sheep died of old age at only 6-years old, even though her species usually lives to be around 12. This is because her DNA was already 6-years old when she was born

@HolyPineCone Год назад

If they lived today we would view them as ordinary, boring animals. Just like the elephant, jellyfish and giraffe. Even though they are weird as fuck. Study any one of them with a childs perspective and you will be awestruck.

@TheFoshaMan Год назад

@@HolyPineCone A Huge flightless bird that is almost elephant sized being a boring animal? I don't think so my man

@HolyPineCone Год назад

@@TheFoshaMan yes you would. It's exceting because you haven't seen one before. Just like mooses are exciting and exotic to Germans. But to the Swedes they run around everywhere and are more of a nuisance. Nuisance?? Big cow creature with weird horns running about in the woodlands?? How is that boring to anyone? It is because they are plentiful. If you switched them out to big birds they would be a nuisance too when they fucked up traffic every day. Jellyfish are far more interesting compared to an extra big bird. But they are so abundant that no one cares. What the hell is a jellyfish anyway? Weird stuff.

@dariuszgaat5771 Год назад

In all birds that lost the ability, there was a strong reduction of wings. I used to wonder if an evolutionary course would be possible that would lead back to the transformation of wings into hands. If, for example, Hoatzin, a bird whose chicks have claws on the wings, landed on an isolated island, could it become a four-legged animal, or something like a bird monkey.

@LimeyLassen Год назад

New Zealand has a bat that can fly but rarely does. They burrow in the leaf litter like shrews.

@yissibiiyte Год назад

@@LimeyLassen not a good example as bats are already quadrupeds anyways

@NitroIndigo Год назад

Reminds me of Serina.

@andrewsuryali8540 Год назад

Secondary quadrupedalism might be very difficult for avians because their root theropod ancestors were already obligate bipeds. The biggest problem is that all bird lineages today inherited the wrong kind of shoulder joint from their theropod ancestors. If we look at sauropods, their shoulders are supported from the back in a way that allows the arms to be positioned under the shoulder girdle. Theropods instead have shoulders supported on the sides, and in birds especially the wing folding mechanism gives their shoulders a tendency to fold up, not down. Their wings can't support weight from below. That means they would have to reevolve prosauropod shoulders then evolutionarily converge on a sauropod-like front limb shape in order to become quadrupedal.

@79klkw Год назад

THAT would we really interesting, but scary as hell!

@yissibiiyte Год назад

3:51 I would love a video on the different bird lineages that survived the KPG extinction. I used to think that all living birds descend from a single survivor of the extinction.

@Just_A_Baryonyx Год назад

The four lineages are Paleognaths, galliforms, anseriforms and neoaves

@hailgiratinathetruegod7564 Год назад

Basicly, 4 groups. Ostriches, chickens, ducks and all other birds

@fredbloggs8072 Год назад

The four groups of modern birds all already existed prior to the KPG extinction, meaning at least one member of each group must have survived the meteor. It's remarkable that no non-avian dinosaur species survived (as far as we know), yet at least four avian dinosaur species did. (Something to do with mobility I would imagine)

@yissibiiyte Год назад

@@fredbloggs8072 maybe we're so predisposed to saying that all non-avian dinosaurs went extinct, that if we did discover a living non-avian dinosaur we would just call it an avian. If something like a microraptor or another small dromaeosaur were alive today we would almost definitely call it a bird.

@bamgb8811 Год назад

I used to think birds all came from one trex that hid in a cave

@brendanhoffmann8402 Год назад

I went and saw cassowaries in far north Queensland about 10 years ago. They were the most spectacular animal I think I've ever seen!

@EinarEle Год назад

Walking through the rainforest in northern Queensland my girlfriend said "unless they're eagles birds aren't very interesting" and seconds later we almost walked into a cassowary. My girlfriend corrected her claim.

@shockwonders2141 Год назад

It's kind of weird that the kiwi, the smallest ratite, is closely related to the elephant bird, the largest bird species that ever lived.

@andyjay729 Год назад

Similar to how the closest living relatives of elephants are the marmot-looking hyraxes.

@berniethekiwidragon4382 Год назад

I live to defy trends and mess with your head.

@jam-qj4if 3 месяца назад

Emu has left the chat

@-Khepri Год назад

Happy birthday

@floriskoning8078 Год назад

Damn, how did you know?

@anomalocarisfangirl7626 Год назад

Birday*

@youtubestudiosucks978 Год назад

You're 5 days too late. But thanks for saying it anyways :)

@galloe8933 Год назад

I haven't commented on this channel's videos, and I don't have much to say now, other than that the quality of these videos is astounding... Couldn't come up with a reasonable way to shoehorn that into a comment about birds, so I'm just saying that the production of these videos is nearly as well put together, as the topics are to follow, and understand with the way they are presented. Most of the things from these videos, I only have a passing knowledge of, but when they are over, I don't feel "lost" or like I somehow understand less. Wonderful science communication skills!

@TheHmm43 Год назад

I agree! The quality of sound and presentation skyrocketed over the first 3-5 videos, and/but I really really want to ask Mothlight to re-record the FIRST (oldest) video's narration. (Convergent evolution) It's one I go back top watch quite often, and I think it is important that people understand this aspect; I had never thought much about it, and that video was a huge eye-opener

@Goldendeed Год назад

For real. Very well said and exactly the vibe I get from all his videos! Freaking awesome guy 👏

@daniell1483 Год назад

These big birds have always been fascinating to me. They are so close to their legendary ancestors, that often, you can just see the resemblance to theropods. Another part of me wonders if these birds could ever evolve back into something big and carnivorous again. Either like the terror birds or, even more impressively, some of the carnivorous dinosaurs. An idle fancy probably, but still, of all birds, it seems like these would be the ones to make that sort of leap, don't they?

@nikolasdemoulin8093 Год назад

Not technically impossible, but highly unlikely due to the way birds are designed. Their legs/hips are not like non-avian dinosaurs. Their hip and thigh bones are at an angle. They essentially poke our at a straight angle like a lizards. This isn’t ideal for bearing a lot of weight. Non-avian dinosaurs had their legs directly underneath them. The large therapods thus were capable of growing to immense sizes (in large part to the structure of their bones and air pockets within, making them light and strong) and still be capable of running and supporting that weight. Modern dinosaurs simply have a different hip structure that limits how big they could get before their hip sockets literally start to pop out from the stress and angle of pressing. Likely the elephant bird was the rough peak of what modern birds could reach. Unless of course a rare event where selective pressure is able to alter their bone structure and rearrange their hip structure to be able to bear that weight. Then maybe we could see an allosaurus sized bird. Definitely not at all impossible. Birds are dinosaurs and dinosaurs were uniquely well designed for getting huge.

@Dr.IanPlect Год назад

Resemblance to _other_ theropods.

@An_Actual_Rat Год назад

I love giant flightless birds. I recently learned of Gargantuavis, which was an ostrich-like flighless bird that lived alongside non-avian dinosaurs. This means that the extinction of the non-avian dinosaur didn't prohibit the evolution of giant flightless birds.

@idrissbenaziz2411 Год назад

I really would like a vid on the other human species, their origins, their spread, etc. it would be amazing with your calm voice and knowledge.

@princesseville6889 Год назад

Stefan Milo and NorthO2 already have amazing videos on our ancestors and cousins, the paleo niche is so wide lol.

@goekhanbag Год назад

Stefan Milo is really good for that, I highly recommend him. He has a similar calm style and he will lead you to a lot of discoveries if you’re into this topic, which I’m sure you are.

@bullen4000 Год назад

I’m gonna be that guy.. BUT.. I genuinely get so happy whenever there is a new video from Moth Light Media. I’ve gone through them all like three times each 😅 Thank you for making my weeks better and insightful:)

@TheGreenKnight500 Год назад

Don't think of it as losing flight. Think of it as returning to dinosaur 🦕👍

@benmcreynolds8581 Год назад

Cassowaries fascinate me and terrify me at the exact same time. I understand just how dangerous they are. I watched Steve Erwin growing up. I pretty much see them as the closest thing to a real raptor that can slash you up and chase you down.

@morganseppy5180 10 месяцев назад

The word you're looking for is "awesome".

@Ptaku93 Год назад

Would've been cool if you'd included a tree showing relationships between all the paleognaths

@rl9217 Год назад

Elephant bird: I’m the largest bird to ever exist, powerful and impressive I shall leave a profound legacy with my surging relatives. Kiwi: I always question if life’s really worth it every time I have to lay one of my freakishly giant eggs, I’m only the size of a chicken this isn’t healthy. Elephant bird: …is this some kind of joke?

@foxc8646 Год назад

Girlfriend: “Care to have your way with me tonight before bed?” Myself: “Women please …..I need to research flightless birds stop pestering me with sex”

@rl9217 Год назад

Ostriches, Emus, Cassowaries, Rheas, Kiwis, Elephant Birds: Even though we can’t fly we all still have our wings. Moas: I don’t, lost them a long time ago. Ostriches, Emus, Cassowaries, Rheas, Kiwis, Elephant Birds: Really? No wings at all? None? Moas: Yup, used to have them. But now, no more, or should I say, no moa? Ostriches, Emus, Cassowaries, Rheas, Kiwis, Elephant Birds: …I really hope you get turned into past tense by that giant eagle real soon just for that pun.

@barron204 Год назад

The NZ wildlife from the time that NZ split from Antarctica had to contend with the islands shifting and being submerged under water to the volcanic activity that was noted around the world. It’s an interesting area to research how the wildlife like the Moa and Kiwi survived.

@justinianthegreat1444 Год назад

It's really fascinating how these dinosaurs survived for so long

@thamasaurus Год назад

Big fan of your channel, the quality of your videos are incredible, and very informative, with massive amounts of research put into a single video. Keep it up! :)

@hayvenforpeace Год назад

Just thinking - my recent ancestors lived and walked with Aepyornis, and probably (unfortunately) contributed to their extinction. It’s sad we didn’t have knowledge of conservation and ecology back then. Really wish I could see one of these magnificent birds alive and in their natural habitat.

@riceboi2004 Год назад

Was at the zoo this past weekend and saw the rheas. Immediately thought to myself how did all these different flightless birds spread across the southern hemisphere. Your video came just at the right time! Thx!

@Ozraptor4 Год назад

5:42 = Tinamous are not 1 species = they comprise 46 extant species in 9 genera, all of which retain limited flight capability. They account for the bulk of living paleognath diversity since the flightless ratites only have a dozen-or-so species.

@ingenuised Год назад

I want to see a video on that flightless owl. Very fascinating animal.

@mojom.9221 Год назад

I 'm a simple Human. I see Moth Light Media Video. I am Happy I click on Video. I lissen and relax. ^^ Loved your Videos since the beginning, the smooth soundtrack, music and calming Voice alsways helps to relaxe me ^^

@invisiblejaguar1 Год назад

It's pretty cool that palaeognaths prove that birds can still be flightless megafauna provided the conditions are right.

@anttam117 Год назад

Thank you. I love birds, and I have a soft spot for flightless birds. I recently wrote a magazine article about the war that Australia declared (and lost) against the emu, and I fell in love with that species the further research I did.

@theharris7207 Год назад

Every time I see your sub count, I am reminded of finding you when it was a couple hundred. Great video as always.

@afrikanoalg3551 Год назад

Good job man continue

@latheofheaven1017 Год назад

Another video covering a subject I've not seen before. Fascinating. Thank you, MLM!

@yoyovvitch Год назад

Thank you for the upload, always makes a day more relaxing 🫀

@toyfan2812 Год назад

Another great video and love how you explain things so it's easy to understand

@straighttalking2090 Год назад

Very interesting and well put together. The piece raises so many questions I'll have to rewatch and take notes for further digestion.

@sallyfacex_ Год назад

I’m so happy that I somehow stumbled across your channel! I thoroughly enjoy your content, it’s intriguing and very informative! also, your voice has such a calming tone and relaxed cadence that I can easily doze off to it. And I mean that as a compliment (:

@talons7266 Год назад

It's always a great day when Moth light uploads, especially on the topics of birds

@jeffreytam7684 7 месяцев назад

Love your voice-it's perfect for narration and somehow feels especially appropriate for your subject matter

@OutdatedGamingShorts Год назад

Heck yeah, Moth light media upload. This is one my favorite channels. Never stop man

@jorgerangel2390 Год назад

Thank you for making this

@abegael8270 Год назад

This is one of my favorite topics!!!! I love these birds!

@EyeSeeThruYou Год назад

As always excellent. Thank you!!

@sirfizzleface9673 Год назад

I love your videos! keep em coming

@Player-pj9kt Год назад

it's always a good day when moth light media uploads!

@emiliuszchyba6690 Год назад

Great video as always

@eggsbenedict7711 Год назад

Happy birthday! Also, could you do a video about parrot evolution?

@cyrilio Год назад

Man your channel has grown so much since I discovered it. Glad it’s doing well.

@LoudmouthReviews Год назад

Fascinating video. Convergent evolution is always a fascinating topic

@BASCILLICUS Год назад

very cool stuff!! thank you for teaching me :D

@fbkintanar Год назад

Surprising info about convergent evolution. Thanks for the video.

@m136dalie Год назад

Very well presented and entertaining

@Ohboymason Год назад

I only wish ur videos would be longer or more frequent cuz i love them so much but the quality is worth waiting

@escorivera3755 Год назад

Love this channel so much

@cyankirkpatrick5194 Год назад

My favorite bird is the "glider bird" of the ancient world. I was a fan of Paleo world on TLC before it went crazy with crazy show's.

@violetlight1548 Год назад

I loved Paleoworld! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who remembers it, and when TLC actually meant "The Learning Channel"

@BlahCraft1 Год назад

Calling them "rafts" in Latin because they have a small keel bone is dad-level biologist humor.

@lakovkreativity1451 Год назад

The best history Channel around, your informative, to the point and you're not cramming sponsors down my throat like all the other ones, that defeats the whole point of paying the subscription fee for ad free listening, by far my favorite channel to binge listen exile I'm working

@travisbicklejr Год назад

Amazing video!

@tamirisgaelzer1902 Год назад

A day with moth light media content is a happy day

@sassa82 Год назад

Finally! More videos please.

@Zveebo Год назад

I love your videos - but I also find your voice incredibly relaxing so find them perfect to go to sleep to 😅

@kimbratton9620 Год назад

I love this channel!!

@Kentuckyhunter58 Год назад

Love the video man

@brandenrendziniak6911 Год назад

I love your videos. Please don’t be stop

@bobokin5815 Год назад

Happy late birthday! Love your videos!

@liddz434 Год назад

Having two large flightless birds in Australia makes sense as the main apex predator, the dingo, didn't come until the last ice age or so.

@hailgiratinathetruegod7564 Год назад

Besides the Emu and Cassowary, two close relaives, Austrila did had/have 2 compleatly diffrent flightless birds. The still in Tasmania living Tasmanian nativehen, a flightless rail. And the extinct Dromornithidaes. Also known as thunder birds, or demon ducks. They were ostrich sized cousins of ducks and geese.

@bkjeong4302 Год назад

Australia never had apex predator birds (that was in South America). It’s top predators were land crocs (which were also in South America) giant lizards and predatory marsupials. Also, dingoes only got to Australia 4000 years ago, which is AFTER the last ice age.

@liddz434 Год назад

@@hailgiratinathetruegod7564 they uncovered Dromornis bones not far from where I grew up in central Australia (a place called alcoota) and have a full sized skeleton on display…absolutely huge creatures!

@LitNick. Год назад

Thanks bro. You make a good teacher

@riverortiz2505 Год назад

Happy birthday thank you for this content

@maozilla9149 Год назад

great video

@DaytimeAce Год назад

I love these videos ❤

@joeshmoe8345 Год назад

Great thanks

@Turdfergusen382 Год назад

So Cool! Thanks

@quantumcat7673 Год назад

Everyone of your video is awesome! I would love to see one that would shed light on the evolution of eukaryotes, particularly the steps in acquiring organelles like the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. Thank you for your scientific approach without sensationalism which is wonderfully refreshing.

@dersitzpinkler2027 Год назад

Love it

@erichtomanek4739 Год назад

Excellent video, informative and visually pleasing, except for the volume. Please post with higher volume in future. Thank you.

@peskettiwestern3210 Год назад

i think you are the best. please keep creating content for my primitive ape brain. i love it

@eacalvert Год назад

Very cool!!!

@yassifieddino1792 Год назад

I'm sad that the moa and elephant bird are extinct. Same for many other species as well.

@luisorozcocardenas1383 Год назад

Is it really ur birthday? (Nov 17?) if so, i find it even more meaningful that im one of ur subscribers! (Its my birthday too!) either way, thank you for ur videos. So calming a d educational.

@cyankirkpatrick5194 Год назад

I remember when I first learned of these bird's and I was terrified, I know that these are extinct but I was still chilled by these terror bird's, they still scare me even though some of their ancestors live like the Cassowary and Emu still are around I have much respect for bird's anyway.

@i_piss_rocks Год назад

kinda makes sense why they'd evolve into their current body plan, they just reinvented the raptor :))

@takenname8053 Год назад

VERY NICE

@sabnox9869 Год назад

Honestly imagine what ocean life was like when all land was in 1 place and there was just 1 massive ocean..

@Crembaw Год назад

Great video as always. The only thing I’d mention is that, as most flying birds are bipedal launchers, it is quite common for birds to have large and strong legs relative to their size. Informative as always, though!👍

@dansmachine9360 Год назад

well done

@Fede45454 Год назад

I see moth light media, i click

@clareselgin3208 Год назад

The content is so interesting that I wish the sound were clearer (maybe louder).

@michaelbacon5278 Год назад

What a good feeling, seeing a new MLM video is up.

@vinniepeterss 2 дня назад

top notch

@dodorik7114 Год назад

awesome

@paurushbhatnagar8100 Год назад

Great work, I suspect they are living dinosaurs

@--Paws-- Год назад

I wish you would cover some freshwater fish which fall in the same puzzling separation. They don't fall in the same adaptation as a salmon which can live in saltwater and breed in freshwater. Some freshwater fish are land locked in that they live in water not connected to the ocean but their relatives are all over the world.

@eljanrimsa5843 Год назад

Bodies of water are not as permanently separated as continents. Most freshwater is connected to the ocean and virtually all freshwater had been connected to the ocean at one point in the last couple of million of years.

@juanausensi499 Год назад

@@eljanrimsa5843 But most species of freshwater fish can't survice in salt water, so it is still puzzling. Sporadic floods are my best guess.

@eljanrimsa5843 Год назад

@@juanausensi499 I think you put this the wrong way round. All freshwater fish evolved from ocean fish, and many ocean fish can live in both saltwater and freshwater. Because all bodies of water have been connected to the ocean not so long ago, it is easy to see that different species may have evolved from a common ocean-going ancestor that reached both locations at some point during the last tens of millions of year. Puzzling are only those cases where the fish are of the same species or so closely related that their common ancestor lived less than a million years ago or so, and we think the lakes didn't have a (freshwater) connection during all that time.

@juanausensi499 Год назад

@@eljanrimsa5843 Of course we are talking about those cases that can't have the ocean as a nexus as an explanation. Furthermore, while is true that most water bodies are or were connected to the ocean, that's not's true for all of them. For example, alpine endorrheic lakes.

@eljanrimsa5843 Год назад

@@juanausensi499 And which superorder of fishes occurs in separated alpine endorheic lakes that have never been connected to the ocean for a hundred million years like the ratites occur on separate continents?

@jrgaskin01 Год назад

they got there on spirit airlines. they used to fly the planes back then.

@darkyboode3239 18 дней назад

When I was a kid I used to call large flightless birds like the ostrich, emu, cassowary, and rhea “big birds.” I wasn’t too far off with that, though ratites are the group these birds are part of. Though all big birds are ratites but not all ratites are big birds, like the kiwi for instance since it’s a small bird.

@alexandrbatora9674 Год назад

Thanks a lot for another video!

@bigbadbrad1894 Год назад

love hearing about evolution from you, thanks for all the content

@rupertwilson4717 Год назад

loved the video but the volume is mixed very low. can you turn it up more in future videos?

@Dionaea_floridensis Год назад

They're all so cute

@angelalewis3645 Год назад

Giant birds fascinate me.

@Darkstar..... Год назад

Great. I got to turn up the volume to max to hear this fellow so an advertisement can come through and blast my dam ear drums to bits. I cant hear him over my fish ponds so i need my headphones which will make me deaf when the ads appear like a friggin earthquake. You can still wisper into the mike and tune the volume up later to get that sombre tone of voice you arent capable of making otherwise. Or is that you dont have a proper recording room and this is how you stop echoes.

@36itaycohen Год назад

Yes!

@XanWasting Год назад

i love your videos, but I get the feeling they're getting more and more quiet. Is your microphone expiring or something? I can lower the volume, but i can't raise it above maximum...