Jonathanaronda

Hi, all! Based on evidence, I'd like to know how and why dinosaurs evolved into birds? What was the selection pressure for them to evolve wings? Also, why did they become smaller? Does it have to do with evolving wings for flight? I was actually under the impression that the selection pressure for them to evolve into birds was due to the asteroid that hit Earth. I thought that because of the asteroid, food supply was short and this resulted in dinosaurs becoming smaller and flight based to hunt for bigger food. Turns out I may have been wrong with this assumption as pointed out by another poster in another thread I wrote awhile back. And yes, I know google is friendly, but I love hearing the responses of other people on forums.

With the re-release of Jurassic Park in 3D, I'm wondering what paleontologists think about the Jurassic Park movies? I know they're not 100% accurate but can they still enjoy the film despite its inaccuracies?

So I saw Jurassic Park 3D over the weekend. It is one of my favorite movies. While it is inaccurate in certain areas, I find the experience enjoyable and growing up the T-Rex was one of my favorite movie villains (in a sense). I read a few things where it said that dinosaurs had feathers rather than scales, so I got to reading about the Tyrannosaurus Rex and wondered if they had feathers too. I couldn't get a clear answer, some said yes, some said no. So which is it, did the T-Rex have feathers or not?

Yes this is an actual question, not sure if this is the place to ask it though... but where does cannabis/marijuana (the plant) come from? How did it get here? I hear it's usage can be traced back to 3,000 BC, but how was the plant actually discovered and how did it get here? Is it still here because of human's using it for drug related purposes? I know this is a weird question to ask, but I'm kind of curious. And this board has always been helpful with my odd questions

If we only do sex because it feels good, what about asexuals? And wouldn't that defeat the purpose if sex is only for us to feel good, since all species are to reproduce in order to continue the existence of the next generation?

Yes, this is a real question, no I'm not trolling. I heard somewhere the reason why there are gay people is because of natural selection's response to overpopulation. I don't know if that's true or not.

Thanks Greg H. I'm actually thinking about getting the book "Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language" by Robin Dunbar, has anyone here ever heard of it and if so read it?

Human beings.

Why do we gossip? Is there an evolutionary explanation behind it? Why do we feel the need to talk about one another behind our backs and why does it take most of our conversation?

At the moment, nothing. But I was listening to an old Limp Bizkit song, "My Way"

I see. Makes sense.

In other words, why do we have music?

I'm curious, I hear that some of our modern day understanding of evolution have proven at least some of the things on Origin wrong. Is this true? If so, what are these things?

I have a feeling this belongs in the Chemistry section, but not really sure... hopefully I can get some answers about it... I was reading: http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-life-120315.html and http://voices.yahoo.com/did-our-ancestors-come-mars-10203611.html What do you think? Did some (if not all) of life originate from Mars? Love to hear your thoughts...

What I meant to say, was OTHER than Earth... didn't think I had to spell that out. I guess, what I mean by habitable is we move to another planet/moon but we don't have to artificially design anything to make it habitable. Another question just came to me, and this one might be better asked in the biology section, but if we were to move to a habitable planet (but artificially design our surroundings so we would survive) would mankind evolve/learn to adapt without the artificial design?

Hi all, sorry if this question has been asked before, but are there habitable planets and/or moons in our solar system? If so, how is that possible?

@md65536: I was only talking about Natural Selection, no artificial options. Loved your response though, thanks. Would love to read from more people, this is interesting.

I see. Thanks. So in that scenario, we'd become swimmers not airborne. Makes sense. Thanks! Would love to get some other opinions and/or some more understanding about wings. By the way, Phi for All, you say that if we evolved wings, we'd become smaller. Does that mean that's what happen to the dinosaurs? It took a catastrophic event to evolve them into birds? CharonY, sorry not a regular here...

Well let me give you a scenario... say a huge flood hit the world (think of the movie: The Day After Tomorrow) and it wiped out a lot of life and wiped out lands, forcing humans to take life in the water by use of boats. Would that be enough selective pressure for us to evolve wings? And if so, how long would that take? Sorry, if the scenario sounds stupid, again, I'm only a layman to science... but I am fascinated by this question.

When I said angel-like I meant somewhere towards the back. But I've learned in science, its never that simple then just growing wings on your back and you'll fly. There's more to it then that.

Hi all, I'm a layman when it comes to science but I do want to learn more. I wanted to know if humans were to evolve wings (for whatever reason), how long would the wings be? What changes will come in their body? Say the wings were to evolve angel-like... would that be possible? And probably my most important question, how long (years) would it take for them to evolve those wings, if the process started now? 100,000? 200,000 years? Sorry if this question has been asked before.

As I said in my Original Post, I have read "The Magic of Reality" and remains to be the only Dawkins's book I have read so forth (in fact, in my picture, that is him, signing my copy). Thanks for the recommendation, I will read "The Greatest Show on Earth" first. By the way, should I read "on the Origin of Species" first, or should I wait till I know more about evolution before I read it?

Haha, true. What I meant to ask, which should I read first and which is a simpler read to understand Evolution since like I said earlier, I'm not knowledgeable when it comes to science and I only know basics really.

Hi, my name is Jonathan. I'm new here, so I'm sorry if this isn't the correct board to ask this question. But I am curious... I am a laymen when it comes to science, but I've always been fascinated by evolutionary biology and the study of animals from their inception to their extinction. I believe I know the basics about evolution, but want to know more and I'm wondering, which of Professor Richard Dawkins's books are a good start to understand evolution besides "The Magic of Reality" which is the only book of his I have read. I ask for Dawkins books because I am a huge admirer of his (considering I'm an Atheist too). Should I go with "The Selfish Gene" or "The Ancestor's Tale" or "The Greatest Show on Earth" or "River Out of Eden" or any other book of his on evolution I haven't mentioned... Also, I have a copy of Charles Darwin's "on the Origin of Species", should I jump into that and read it, or should I wait till I'm more familiar with the subject of evolution first? Let me know, please and thank you.