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Elephants Sit Perched on the Brink of Flight |
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September 6th, 2009 Recent fossil finds in China have yielded countless specimens of dinosaurs sporting feather-like structures, referred to as 'proto-feathers' by paleontologists. These structures are believed to be the precursors of the feathers that eventually allowed dinosaurs to evolve into the birds that we see around us today, equipped with the ability to fly. All these specimens started some biologists thinking, are there any modern animals who are in the beginning stages of developing feathers, and perhaps even flight? "Well we found one, the elephant," sez Wade Biffolicle of the Pachydermal Research Center in Guymon, New Mexico. "We looked for a creature that had some similarities in size and strength to dinosaurs and the elephant was a good candidate. After examining the short, bristly hairs covering the creatures, we believe that we were in fact not looking at hair or fur at all, but proto-feathers. Elephants appear well on their way to evolving feathers, and eventually, given a few hundred million years, fully-powered flight." |
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The short stubble seen on the back of this elephant are actually protofeathers, not hairs as we might suppose. |
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This discovery has led to some interesting theories about what evolutionary path elephants will follow that will surely lead to their eventual mastery of the skies. The "bullfeathers-threat" theory postulates that feathered wing-like ears will give a distinct selective advantage to aggressive males. Another theory envisions elephants growing wing-like "catcher's mitt" hands to capture small insects and in that way enhance their survival by allowing for wider dietary choices. |
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An angry bull elephant threatens rival males with it's powerful winged display. |
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An elephant attempts to capture a butterfly with feathered "mitts" in this artist's conception of a dreamy pachydermic utopia 150 million years in the future. |
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This picture is self-explanatory. I don't know why you're even asking about it. |
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The five-o'clock shadow apparent on the faces of this family of building contractors indicates that they are well on their way to developing fully-powered, feathery flight. |
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