Ten Thousand Birds Quotes

“In a similar vein, John Videler (2006) of Leiden University suggested the “Jesus Christ dinosaur” model of flight origins, whereby protobirds may have gained advantages for both escape and foraging by running over the surface of water rather than land.”
― Tim Birkhead, Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin

“In 2008 Prum’s graduate student Jakob Vinther, with Prum and two of their Yale colleagues, identified melanosomes (tiny organelles that contain melanin) in fossil feathers from the Lower Cretaceous (100–65 MYA) of Brazil and the Early Eocene (56–49 MYA) of Denmark. They were thus able to show that those feathers were colored with black and white stripes. Indeed, they concluded that most fossil feathers are actually preserved in such a way that it might be possible to determine the colors of extinct birds and feathered dinosaurs.”
― Tim Birkhead, Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin

“In a final flourish, drawing on his extensive knowledge of avian anatomy, he presents a critique of the supposed morphology of divine beings: “If angels had any reality, they would be very clumsy and awkward fliers with a slow heavy flight, lacking as they are in aerodynamic shape.”
― Tim Birkhead, Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin

“THERE ARE CURRENTLY VERY CLOSE TO TEN thousand species of birds in the world, both beautiful and improbable, and they have contributed more to the study of zoology than almost any other group of animals (Konishi et al. 1989). The reasons are obvious: birds are diurnal, they are often easily observed and studied, and we like them.”
― Tim Birkhead, Ten Thousand Birds: Ornithology since Darwin