Did This Bird Really Re-Evolve?

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About 136,000 years ago, on a coral atoll in the Indian Ocean, there lived a flightless bird. And when this atoll was swallowed up by the waves, that bird went extinct. ... Or did it? Did the flightless Aldabra rail evolve twice?
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Sources:
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www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrej-Spiridonov-2/publication/339308200_Moving_towards_a_better_understanding_of_iterative_evolution_an_example_from_the_late_Silurian_Monograptidae_Graptolithina_of_the_Baltic_Basin/links/605bd652299bf17367686519/Moving-towards-a-better-understanding-of-iterative-evolution-an-example-from-the-late-Silurian-Monograptidae-Graptolithina-of-the-Baltic-Basin.pdf
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Thumb Image Credit: Ian Davies / / @thebirdsguy
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• Tenrec

[@BizarreBeasts]

Check out Manta Sleep here bit.ly/3OVmdhe and make sure to use bizarrebeasts for 10% off your order! And then, take a nap!

[@HassanMohamed-rm1cb]

Why don't you get to think of a suggestion and creating a KZbin Videos all about the Bizarre Bird Species called a Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex) 👞 🐦 on the next Bizarre Beasts maybe next month in June coming up next?!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍👍👍

[@graffic13]

Wish we'd see aldabra rails cohabed with aldabra tortoises in zoo's they're so cute

[@huldu]

I have a serious question for people using a thing like this, is it because you can't sleep due to lights/sounds etc? I used to live a somewhat rough life early on so I got used to sleeping with sounds and lights(along with sun) without any issues. I always thought this was normal until I heard that a lot of people are struggling which came as a surprise to me. Makes me wonder how long it took to adapt to in the first place. To be completely honest I do need some sort of sound going on to be able to sleep so that's the downside I have a hard time sleeping in complete silence but that isn't an issue when you're living in a big city.

[@BriJBo]

I already have the Manta Sleep Mask Pro from a different sponsored video and use it every day at work to take naps on my 15-minute breaks. I work in a warehouse, but finding a spot to snooze in is pretty simple. Just need three tall totes: 1 as a seat and the other 2 stacked very strategically like a table. The mask is cool cause the eye cups are modular and can be pulled off and reoriented on the mask itself due to velcro. The cups also don't put pressure on your actual eyeballs like generic sleep masks do since they're cup shaped rather than flat.

[@GeminiDTwins]

Cant seems to use the code, is it exclusively for US?

[@tylerknowsanimals]

Thank you for not falling down the aforementioned media rabbit hole of “this bird evolved twice” and instead establishing the probable distinction between the two iterations. And regardless, this was a very interesting video, as per usual!

[@omnirath]

Did you expect otherwise from this channel ?

[@sleepyninjarin7971]

Honestly I ignored all media coverage of this until I saw this video and.... it ended up so interesting

[@charliemcconlough]

It didn’t even talk about the bird…

[@carlosandleon]

I mean anyone with 2 braincells know the distinction bro.

[@liamevans7661]

@@carlosandleonno, science needs taught, humans don’t inherently know anything

[@Beanedict_C]

The species didn’t re-evolve, the part just got recast

[@HogBurger]

clever…

[@seanrowshandel1680]

In the future, we will either create mutually beneficial relationships with all of these people and animals whom we haven't yet met (such as these rails) which will be worth defending, or we will be guilty of being "Against" these harmonious relationships. Some things never become less modern. People who love their job and wouldn't mind being left alone have freedom and are subject to their own intrapersonal "judgement" regarding any mistakes which they've made while "under oath". This is what guides people toward success. Some of us have no identity, nor oath. It seems like the oath is like a fountain from which identity is granted. So our focus on safety is superfluous, but success/progress are NOT. What if we were trying to MORE than simply get things "back to normal"? Do you want things to be Better Than Normal for the first time? What's the Oath for that? What's the identity of people who want things to be Better than normal? Do they not have identities yet? We don't yet have a "Steve Irwin-ist" era of journalism where "history is defined by the victor".

[@zathtanks]

@@seanrowshandel1680ark survival evolved story is that humans and everything on earth is Mosul extinct (except humans on genesis ships in stasis) and we leftbhind technology able to recreate any life that ever lived and even alter its code

[@zathtanks]

Mostly not Mosul

[@bmolitor615]

hey mark that spoiler alert :)

[@windsorsa]

Rail vs Crab looks like a real life Pokémon battle

[@jamesoshea580]

"Rail uses peck. It is not very effective"

[@y0nd3r]

Or maybe Another Crabs Treasure?

[@NinaDmytraczenko]

It really looks like a turn based fight 😂😂

[@FischerNilsA]

@@jamesoshea580 "Crab waves claw - misses."

[@godshowman1878]

​@@FischerNilsArail uses bird dance and it's attack increases

[@skyem5250]

so sad that all the rails went extinct in the 1800s when they were killed to make railroads

[@Lolibeth]

Fun fact! Their use in railroads led to breeding programs and an explosion in their populations, but it was ultimately the coming of cars and paved roads that led to their decline

[@c.jishnu378]

​@@Lolibeth Facts.

[@luurankoiset9120]

Boo - but also, bravo!

[@atgosh]

When my sustainability analyst sister says taking the train is more environmentally friendly than driving my car. No, Mikaela, train is murder!

[@nickdarr7328]

Yes but it was necessary. It made the extinction of Indians, scientific name: native Americans, much easier.

[@AroundTheBlockAgain]

What an odd poetry that the thing we think of as "the most bird-like" thing about birds - their flight - is something they "seem to hate doing" since it's so energy intensive, and is one of the first things they ditch given half a chance and no penalties for doing so.

[@janetsanders5356]

Probably even more difficult for flying foxes who may not be as well adapted for flight as birds and have to carry baby around with them in the case of the females.

[@cumunist2120]

Then there’s chickens all the advantage of ground birds while retaining the ability to fly really well if needed all while having a lot of predators. Now there’s more of them than humans and they’re smart enough to be our successor species if corvids don’t get there first

[@ValeriePallaoro]

Ohmygod yes. I just watched my magpies walk over 500 mtrs down the road rather than fly to me. One walked from me with a treat mouthful another 200 mtrs across the road to eat it away from its brother, then walked back for more. Wth??

[@cumunist2120]

@ those are dogs

[@nothereanymore3941]

The clip where the rail starts pecking the tortoise and the tortoise looks like it’s going “hey cmon man”

[@graemebloodworth8991]

i would love to get a plants series like this. Theres SO many weird plants. Sandbox trees and exploding cucumbers!

[@graemebloodworth8991]

Also i would love to consult if something were to come of that...

[@suzettehenderson9278]

Check out floralogic

[@skivvia]

Yes! and the Gympie Gympie from Australia

[@victoriaeads6126]

That would be pretty wonderful. All the stinky plants, exploding plants, plants that just ALWAYS choose violence, plants that will both sting you AND can be used to soothe the sting they just made, plants that give you sun sensitivity for extended periods of time...

[@Adi-8529]

That would be awesome!!

[@T0nyTheArtist]

So we didn't get a re-release. We got a remake.

[@RadeticDaniel]

Perfect description 😂

[@radagastwiz]

My favorite name for a flightless rail is an Atlantic species, the Inaccessible Island Rail. Named for its home island, which is not so much hard to get to as hard to set foot on.

[@leothebugnerd]

"Did This Bird Really Evolve Twice?" crabs: amateurs

[@primevalrex7266]

This is why the rail is out for those crabs Peace was never an option in the re-evolution community

[@dingchat555]

@@primevalrex7266 The rails are leading an uprising against the crabs. It's a revolution

[@LilFeralGangrel]

Trees: 😎

[@IDisagree100]

Crabs are ugly tho so who really won?

[@leothebugnerd]

@@IDisagree100 your mom is ugly but seriously, do not insult crabs in my presence

[@victoriaeads6126]

I was just interested until they showed the clip with the chicks OMIGOSH, THE ADORABLE RAIL BABIES! They are so FLUFFY!!!!!❤❤❤

[@MaoRatto]

It's the do-do bird 2.0!

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

Tbf most birds chicks are fluffy. :D

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

I also found it interesting how the babies are completely black but the adults are different colors.

[@victoriaeads6126]

Oh, I am an equal opportunity lover of fluffy chicklets 😂 we are birb folks over here. I agree about the color difference, all black growing into more colorful is somewhat unusual.

[@monroerobbins7551]

Agreed, they’re little babies!! They’re friend shaped for sure

[@messyhair42]

Thank you for reminding me about the Reunion swamp hen, I'd forgotten about it since Brady last mentioned it

[@thelastsliceofbread4098]

If I had a nickel for every time a flightless aldabra rail evolved on the Aldabra atoll I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?

[@Essex121514]

"Only 2x? Those are rookie numbers."~ Crabs

[@RyandeVries-d2x]

I'm sure there's a reference to something in there

[@V1R0X-42]

“Nickle”

[@thelastsliceofbread4098]

@V1R0X-42 lol thanks for catching that, edited

[@alexanderren1097]

Omniman: “What’s another 17,000 years? I can always start again. Make another bird!”

[@SchuylerS]

Bizarre beast suggestion: Nothobranchius killifish Shortest lifecycle of a vertebrate species. Nothobranchius Fuzeri mature, spawn, and die within three months. They lay there eggs in mud that dries out for months until rain comes again. Bonus: they're super colorful and cool looking!

[@neutralseife8419]

OMG YES killifish are so cool! I have a species of longer living ones and its interesting how their eggs have a far longer incubation period then most fish of that size. I guess that is because their ancestors where seasonal fish that readapted to a "normal" livecycle. I don't know if this is actually the case for this genus (Epiplatys), but i heard that there is genetic evidence in some killifish, that they have switched between stategies multiple times in the past, which is just evolution at it's finest.

[@moekitsune]

YES KILLIFISH ARE SO COOL

[@thatpandaz6094]

IS THIS MAN ON EVERY KZbin CHANNEL????

[@greywolf7577]

Wait until you meet Simon Whistler.

[@evancombs5159]

@@greywolf7577 I feel like every day he starts a new channel that I then tell KZbin to block, only for me to get recommended a new video from him on another channel the next day.

[@mildlydazed9608]

There’s 10 people somehow creating every channel lol

[@cooliipie]

Science channels

[@dariuscasaus57]

Why does the rail at 2:15 have to be so rude? The Aldabra tortoise is just minding its own business

[@RingoBuns]

Straight up just poking him in the eye. That’s so rude!

[@mattfleming86]

Behaviorally they really remind me of chickens. Chickens do the same things. I have one who always tried to eat the little brown mole on my leg. It's like they get fixated on an image and decide "i'ma try to eat that"

[@DeathlordSlavik]

@@mattfleming86 They think it is something like a tick or maybe something that is stuck on you like part of plant you brushed up against or dead skin as many species of birds will clean other animals of things like ticks or build up of dead skin and plant material. Same thing is happening in the video the bird sees something like a small bug or dead skin and wants to eat it. Even birds like crows will do this when it comes to ticks which shows just how common the behavior is.

[@YouTubeallowedmynametobestolen]

It seems to me that this is just convergent evolution, but happening at different times. Rather than two species of far different classifications evolving into similar forms, it's two species of far different times evolving into similar forms.

[@Dr.Ian-Plect]

Your wording is incorrect by not presenting valid comparisons, but that aside, one point; convergence doesn't require the taxa to be contemporaneous, so that part is irrelevant.

[@YouTubeallowedmynametobestolen]

@@Dr.Ian-Plect Thanks, Doc!

[@BlackReshiram]

im more concerned with how insanely cute these rails are oml

[@MrT_Rex]

That bird : HELLO BOYS, I'M BAAAACK

[@YaManImCool]

Ah no, wrong bird. It's Quaids rail that's attributed with that particular call.

[@acarnold]

Let’s say: “near identical adaptations of the same root species evolved on two separate occasions”

[@teicheselchloropusasinus]

Rails are my favorite bird family and I heard about the story, thank you for the video!

[@ChaosMagnet]

Thank you for remaining pro-science, pro-reality in the ugly face of anti-scientific nonsense, ‘intelligent’ design silliness, and mass belief in stupid conspiracies! This channel and the others from these creators are a lovely breath of fresh air. Fresh, tropical, island air, even!

[@MaoRatto]

Then again hope these aren't the science deniers that believe in non-binary as it's a trend I am noticing. If going to be fully pro-science then you must throw all unscientific stuff out the window.

[@BasiliskArt]

@@MaoRatto nonbinary identities aren't anti-science, they're an application of the social sciences and the social construct of gender identity. Please stop acting like everything that makes you feel funny inside is somehow fake

[@njlkerins]

"Part of a train track" (Dad joke alert!) :-D

[@LeBatteur]

“Crab-shaped” is such a delightful descriptor.

[@kevinstandart4310]

Jim: "What the f&$@ are you doing?" Hank: "Oh I'm just looking under the hood of this Flightless Rail!"

[@GaryDunion]

Wild that I had never heard the word gallinule before! We do have one species in Britain and it's super common, but we call it them moorhens.

[@farangtikitungmuang]

Crabra aldadra, ala kazaam! You thought i was gone but here i am!

[@annsidbrant7616]

Always good to see and hear Hank Greene!

[@DreadEnder]

Look at argonauts. They’re cephalopods that look very similar to ammonites and nautili but don’t share a common ancestor with a shell.

[@elyzsabethahne2116]

A scientist may also have to take into account how the environment on the island may have changed over time from how it used to be before the flood/severe storm, then how it may have changed after the water receded.

[@Airia821]

ありがとうございます！

[@Shaden0040]

please do an episode on the Aldabra tortoise the second largest tortoise in the world and they are endangered. And you can get one from a reputable breeder causeway they are being bred commercially be aware they are the second largest tortoise they can weigh up to 500 lbs. And they're very very friendly.

[@foxgloved8922]

Usually endangered animals can’t be bought because, breeders or not, rareness encourages poaching. What’s different in this case?

[@BizarreBeasts]

We have done an episode on giant tortoises! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJDKaoZmjthgpposi=9L_F0vwKV-PdVpVg

[@keithfaulkner6319]

​@@foxgloved8922 aldabras are not endangered. They're all over their native environment. Galapago tortoises, ARE endangered, and you can't get them. Totally different species.

[@foxgloved8922]

@@keithfaulkner6319 thanks for the clarification. OP made it sound like they are advocating for purchasing an endangered animal.

[@JaniceinOR]

Aldabra tortoises are vulnerable (just one step from endangered) according to Wikipedia and PBS and IUCN. So @shaden0040's comment was incorrect, but there is indeed concern about the species. IUCN's website states their status was assessed in 1996, which is 28 years ago; I wonder if they are doing better or worse now. The IUCN website notes that (in 1996, I assume) "population severely fragmented", "continuing decline of mature individuals", "continuing decline in area, extent, and/or quality of habitat".

[@sps6374]

« Defining a species can be messy » _PTSD throwback to Clint’s Reptiles crazy phylogenetic trees_

[@wiandryadiwasistio2062]

man-like man-like man-like monkeys be like 👁️👄👁️

[@zoolover4669]

I love rails. They are one of my favorite groups of birds.

[@thomasetavard2031]

I really hate it when people make assumptions like "they are flightless bird therefore they went extinct". One thing I know about birds is they are very light and therefore can float very well on water. Their are bird that can swim in water, not just pinguins. Who's to say they didn't just traverse the ocean blue to another Island/atoll? Who's to say that they didn't do this even before the island was underwater? Who's to say they didn't find another way to survive? The only way to know for sure would be genetics. Since all we have from before the island/atoll flooded are fossils, no DNA can be found. Nature can find ways to do the impossible.

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

Wasn't the dodo a flightless pigeon, rather than a rail?

[@placeholderwastakenwastaken]

i think he meant that there's more extinct rails rather than dodos being rails

[@theapexsurvivor9538]

Technically I'm pretty sure dodos are part of the Paleaognathae

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

@@theapexsurvivor9538 no, I checked. They're definitely part of the Columbidae (pigeons).

[@mayaenglish5424]

He didn't say they were rails, just another flightless bird in the area!

[@LDProductionsClass]

The book "Improbable Destinies" is about this feature of evolution. It covers evolutionary experiments with introducing lizards to tiny islands in the Caribbean and allowing tiny fish to colonize pools upstream.

[@TestUser-cf4wj]

So this isnt two identical evolutions of the same parent species, but this _near_ identical evolution of the same parent species raises an interesting evolutionary possibility: could iterative evolution be a factor in the development of traits that are reinserted into the parent population? Say theres an island that is periodically connected to the mainland when sea levels drop where flightless birds evolve during periods of isolation, that are then reintroduced to their flying relatives when the island becomes connected again. The level of speciation isnt so radical that the two populations can't interbreed, so the flightless gene is taken up by the flying population. This process repeats many times until enough copies of the flightless gene get introduced to the flying population that it primes the flying population to evolve flightlessness at the drop of a hat. Or something similar. I was actually thinking about hammerhead sharks, but i dont think there's any evidence that they went through iterative evolution.

[@pressb]

Unaddressed question, can the flightless Aldabran rails still mate successfully with the Madagascan root stock? are they separate species or sub-spieces? if the flightlessness evolved in 16,000 years from the same root stock and they can still successfully breed with their root stock it is conceivable that the pre-flood sub-species could breed successfully with their post flood cousins.

[@chrisdaignault9845]

Ah yes, Rails and drop-of-a-hat flightlessness. An iconic pairing.

[@Allegheny500]

Penguins are flightless birds but water is a second home to them, many birds like seagulls can float, so the question is, did those rials go extinct when the island flooded? Or did some of them float to another island somewhere and return later after some evolutionary tweaking.

[@aliastheabnormal]

Bird versus crab. A rivalry as old as time.

[@daniell8331]

In New Zealand we have 2 that are flightless and another 2 that are/were getting that way.... .....before the greatest selection pressure of all time showed up that is.

[@Articulate99]

Always interesting, thank you.

[@victoriaeads6126]

Wow, those rails have deep and enduring beef with crabs, I'll bet the crabs have a tendency to predate rail eggs and young chicks. Or they just don't like the look of ocean bugs? 🤔

[@NinaDmytraczenko]

I mean, the crabs already won the first round, with that whole extinction of the first rail so... Maybe the new birds want generational revenge?

[@Lolibeth]

They're tasty

[@sophierobinson2738]

“I will gradually peck all the tasty bits from this pinchy bug.”

[@RailfoxStudios]

It can be all of the above. It's rarely if ever that black and white when it comes to nature.

[@deeespinal9666]

We talking bout species that will each eat they own kind the moment any red shows from an injury

[@aradraugfea6755]

This has real "Nature loaded up a save file" vibes.

[@KBRoller]

So basically, it's a case of convergent evolution with a common ancestor. A evolved into B, and then later A evolved into C; B and C just happen to have similar traits because they evolved under similar (basically identical) conditions and started from the same form. Neat!

[@Noxturne09]

Please upload more rail vs crab footage!!!!

[@spracketskooch]

If Michael Levin's work is correct, then genes just code for proteins. The body plan is somehow stored in electrical potential across the cells of an organism. I'd be interested to see how that would impact evolution. If genes aren't all that important for a body plan, then what affects changes in body plans?

[@thaddeuszukowski4633]

They also only have a limited number of survivable mutations in their DNA so under smaller conditions, the same mutations will provide similar evolutionary advantages and thus phenotypically the appear surprisingly similar.

[@LoveatFirstHike]

How long has this channel existed and how did I not know about it!?

[@ElegieTristesse]

Was the dodo not related to pigeons ? Is there new evidence out ?

[@BizarreBeasts]

You are right! Dodo's are related to pigeons! We were just saying that they are the most famous flightless bird that lived on an island in the Indian Ocean, not that they were also rails.

[@ElegieTristesse]

@@BizarreBeasts Ah ok. Then i misunderstood. Thanks

[@roku3216]

How do we tell the difference between rail evolution and rail manifestation of ancestral flightless trait manifesting in the presence of their ground-foraging, low-predator island lifestyle? Are there species of birds that have adapted from flightless to flight, and back again, the way some animals have gone from aquatic to land back to aquatic?

[@NitroIndigo]

Cetaceans and sirenians are both fully, secondarily aquatic.

[@Kimmaline]

Is the rail going after the crab, or the eggs it's carrying on it's underside? It looked to me like they were just trying to pluck off a few eggs, not take out the entire crabby boi.

[@MaryAnnNytowl]

Awwww... those little black fluffybutt Rails are adorable! 🖤🖤 And this is (as Hank mentioned) like how things like to become crabs, except in birds, so it's not really so surprising, IMO. Interesting, yes - very! But not horribly strange. 😊

[@elijahbachrach6579]

Species translates to something like “semblance/form.” When the word was first used by scientists they meant “these all have the exact same form and do the exact same thing.”

[@NitroIndigo]

Carl Linnaeus.

[@cmoor8616]

Thanos: I am inevitable. Some atoll bird: 🐦

[@Fayanora]

When the islands vanished beneath the waves, the bird had nowhere to go atoll.

[@Gunter4life]

This birb always comes back

[@Jean-PaulFerrali]

I dont get why birds would choose to fly to a tiny island with I assume limited or atleast more limited food sources then they had access to on whatever mainland they came from, and then never fly home. Or do some fly back or elsewhere and some stay, But if they had those birds coming and going i dont see them evolving to be flightless. What makes them stay is i guess what im asking lol.

[@PirateOfTheNorth]

Cool, I was not expecting to see Hank Green here when I clicked on this video

[@SmolFenFen]

The thing that gets me, if that bird evolved on that atoll that could have been swallowed up by waves... What obscene ungodly impossible level of probability had to happen for that atoll to not get swallowed up by waves for the millions of years needed?

[@willburbur3793]

Was “that we know of” a reference to Lindsay Nikole 😂😂

[@Rubrickety]

I noticed that Hank carefully avoided mentioning the third rail.

[@benmcreynolds8581]

I would hope that certain birds like that would develop the ability to at least float on top if the water. A lot like how Ducks do.. Obviously they won't have the waterproofing effect that most birds that evolved to interact with water have developed

[@iamsheel]

This seems like Zelda games lore shenanigans

[@believeinpeace]

Thanks!

[@VivoY58-h2b]

Don't waste your money here

[@VivoY58-h2b]

Spend them on a multiplayer game like Moba games poke unite,League of legends etc.these people don't even give you a reply

[@believeinpeace]

@ I would prefer they continue their excellent content than answer all of our stupid comments. Games, what a stupid thing to waste one’s time on. Really? Wise up!

[@Mercurio-Morat-Goes-Bughunting]

Coral atolls form at the top of seamounts, many of which are extinct volcanoes. Extinct volcanoes inevitably collapse, resulting in gradual subsidence and causing what was once an island paradise to sink beneath the waves. No sea level rises necessary. It just is what it is. That said, the ups and downs of sea level adds it's own consequences to this and, what can I say? It's never easy!

[@alexanderno1093]

so a creature with the same pieces, on eye level at least, put together a very similar puzzle 😱

[@Brian-uy2tj]

What I found interesting was in the scenes where you see the bird pecking at a relatively large crab, I noticed that it was a female crab carrying eggs and the bird isn't so much pecking at the crab as much as it is stealing the crabs eggs. That is one way to keep the land crab population under control.

[@cloudedarctrooper]

I know we don't really have a good way of knowing, but imagine if we sequenced the genome of the extinct one, and the present day one, and they happened to be nearly identical in genetic sequence and diversity, just by _sheer chance._ Now that would be freaky.

[@katarinavalentine]

Damn the rail was weaving like a boxer against that crab lol

[@saucesamurai8768]

5:16 that crab is really pissed

[@lauracassidy8152]

Hank your new hair looks so great! I hope you think so as well. Keep up the awesome.

[@existenceisillusion6528]

It should be noted that the variations of evolution are all the same evolution. It is only the circumstances that change.

[@Kevinmc-j7l]

This makes me think something almost like a human could have access to somewhere in deep time maybe even before the dinosaur.

[@seese9456]

Iterative evolution is kind of amazing because it shows how strong selective pressures and strict niches can generate the "same" species multiple times.

[@LokiScarletWasHere]

Flightless bird crabification

[@VincentKing.r2g]

"Is this bird inevitable" lmao

[@fko3143]

Evolution never ends!

[@Shaden0040]

the correct term for siniment around a fossil is called a matrix.

[@revolution1237]

When you're a paleontologist and someone says "Matrix": "Ah, the sediment or rock that encloses a fossil. Fascinating!" When you're a movie fan and someone says "Matrix": "Red pill or blue pill? Welcome to the real world, Neo!"

[@lynneclark5313]

Interesting, but when the atoll sank what says the birds, tho flightless, didn't just swim to other atolls?

[@larryjeffryes6168]

The forelimbs of bird like dinosaurs seem remarkably prone to mutation. In this case, does the bird have a variant floating around the gene pool just waiting for a chance to express itself?

[@Waaaghka]

Nature said "extinct". Bird said "nuh uh"

[@t.c.2776]

Dragsters are called "rails"... You can "rail" at someone in anger... you can have a Stair rail... you can have a chair rail... and of course a train rail... I'm sure there are many others I don't know of... 🤔

[@HauxYZ250]

I’m curious, what is the benefit of flightlessness that would explain why it is selected for over flying birds?

[@mnm1273]

It's an investment of energy to have working wings. You need to grow them (and so need more food). So if flight isn't useful enough, it's better to be flightless.

[@HauxYZ250]

@@mnm1273 I guess I’m just surprised there would be enough environmental pressure to select for such a small biological edge to the point that the birds that could fly would go completely extinct instead of just diverging

[@kitchengun1175]

I thoughts dodos were columbids like i swear its been pretty solidly confirmed using genetics and anatomical similarities that the dodo and rodrigues solitaire were pigeons the 'rail' on Reunion was also an ibis upon a small amount of googling the only thing i found connecting any of these animals to rails was allegedly fringe theories from the 1800s

[@ValeriePallaoro]

Did you say they support afternoon naps? Ohmygiddyaunt, take my money Manta Sleep!! ❤🎉❤

[@howdydoodey3872]

I've come to believe, over time, that there is 'evolve gene' functioning in every living thing i.e. Evolution is not chance, nor accidental. Rather than just saying that a species "lost the ability to fly", I say that this rail 'thought' the wings away. i.e. A wish gene. In this case, wings became a nuisance, so over time less energy was put into growing an unnecessary accessory. Thus, we will come to see what evolution really is - If an animal desires longer legs, it gets longer legs.

[@thehowlingjoker]

Unfortunately that isn't how it works. Though it would be great if we could just wish for wings and then fly about for a bit.

[@mannygutierrez7654]

I love Hank's chemo curls 😅

[@OorahhColeman]

Just reading about the Inaccessible Island Rail on Wikipedia and had to come back to this.

[@honeylocustlavenderfarm]

I believe it would be more likely that these flightless rails evolved and probably crossbred with flighted rails, who took the genetics away from that area for a time, and then once reintroduced those genetics remain predominant. Meaning that the rail never d evolved or re. Evolved. But simply the genetics, we're already transfixed in its genome

[@sharondornhoff7563]

Might be interesting to check the mainland population of white-throated rails, and see if there's a low but non-zero incidence of chicks being hatched among them that lack the capacity for flight. Off the atoll where predators are prevalent, such a trait would rate as a genetic flaw that incurs a fatal disability, but on the atoll it's a harmless energy-saver.

[@futball51]

Did I see a reference to the Réunion swamphen? The official bird of Hello Internet?

[@wingedhussar1453]

Wow that evolution like non fligntess in animal happened in 10 thousand yeats is crazy

[@realaveragejon]

some evolve to become crabs and some become... barnacles. yeah, they are the same freaking family

[@RingoBuns]

Omg they’re just little guys

[@kiori66]

We have birds like that here and I live in town right in the middle