Here at Top Comments we strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site\u2019s best, funniest, most mojo\u2019d & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! Here\u2019s the new & improved DK6 version of how to submit nominations:<\/p>\n
If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to\u00a0topcomments at gmail dot com\u00a0or\u00a0send a kosmail to the username\u00a0topcomments<\/a>\u00a0by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!<\/p>\n At this point, most people are familiar with how, 66 million years ago, a meteor fell to Earth in the vicinity of the Yucatan Peninsula setting off a cataclysm of fire, flood, molten rock, the Sun blocked out by soot and smoke for years, and acid rain that killed off 3\/4 of the species on Earth at the time, including all dinosaurs. Well, not quite all dinosaurs. The one group of animals descended from dinosaurs that remain with us today are birds. How did they survive while every other species related to dinosaurs became extinct? A new article<\/a> sheds light on this question.<\/p>\n It turns out that certain characteristics favored some species over others. First was size. If the creature was large, there was virtually no way to escape the fire and destruction. Further, large animals required a lot of food to survive, and with the sun blocked out, plants would not grow, so herbivores would die, and then in turn, the predators of the herbivores would die. Smaller species, by contrast, that matured quickly (say within a year) would more easily find shelter from the devastation.<\/p>\n However, most bird species that existed at the end of the Cretaceous also became extinct. The first birds appeared around 150 million years ago, about when the first known species, Archaeopteryx, were first identified. However, in the in the 84 million years between the appearance of birds and the arrival of the meteor, evolution produced a great deal of variation among birds. This ranged from birds that, like Archaeopteryx, still had teeth and boney tails, a number of different wing designs. Only birds with beaks, feathery bird tails, and hollow bones, similar to the ones we\u2019re familiar with in modern birds survived. Why?<\/p>\n While there is evidence of a plethora of diverse bird species below the geological iridium layer that signifies the meteor collision, immediately above that layer, only two species have thus far been identified. They were both water birds: Vegavis\u00a0and\u00a0Asteriornis, which share affinities with ducks and chickens. Why did these survive? Recall that all the forests burned, so any species that lived in the trees would have perished, as well as their predators. The two species that were found to have survived, living near the water, would have been somewhat protected from the fires, plus they had the ability to fly away from particularly bad environments. But what was there to eat after all the plants and other animals had died? The answer is seeds. Seeds can survive and remain viable for many years, and indeed, preserved seeds in the environment after a fire are what brings plant life back to that environment. The same would have been true 66 million years ago. Those few birds that managed to survive on seeds managed to make it through the years of darkness, and once the sunlight returned, and plant life sprouted again, these few species evolved into the wide variety we see today, from the ostrich to the hummingbird.<\/p>\n On to the comments:<\/p>\n From RosyFinch:<\/p>\n in the story about the Senate race in Maine, I so appreciate this comment<\/a> by Rob in Vermont giving links to hear from the Graham Platner. When we can find statements and interviews, rather than soundbites and ads, we can know much more. From Joe Democrat\u2018s recommended post Joe Platner is the Democratic Nominee<\/a>.<\/p>\n From RickBoston:<\/p>\n In kos\u2018 daily site update diary<\/a>, I asked why I keep getting notified about stories with the hashtag #ICE and diaries by Ice Blue. Franks Human reminded me<\/a> to count my blessings \u2026and Kurt brought the joke in for a landing.<\/p>\n \tDaily Kos is free for everyone\u2014no paywall, no barriers. Help keep it that way<\/p>\n Daily Kos is committed to keeping all our content free. That’s why we don’t have a paywall, and never will. However, Daily Kos’ revenue is down, and we may not be able to continue producing the quality of work you have come to expect from us. Donations from our readers are our largest source of income. If you value independent, accessible, paywall-free journalism, please consider making a donation today.<\/p>\n \t\tPower matters.<\/p>\n