Research on evolution is happening right here in Florida’s very own universities. Who could have ever guessed? The University of Florida proudly touted some recent research into the evolution of flightless birds.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Large flightless birds of the southern continents – African ostriches, Australian emus and cassowaries, South American rheas and the New Zealand kiwi – do not share a common flightless ancestor as once believed.
Instead, each species individually lost its flight after diverging from ancestors that did have the ability to fly, according to new research conducted in part by University of Florida zoology professor Edward Braun.
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The conclusions about ratite origin are just a small part of a massive research project aimed to better understand the evolutionary relationships among bird species [early bird], which involved five institutions, 18 researchers, $2 million of funding and four years of work. In addition to the University of Florida, researchers came from the Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum of Natural History, Wayne State University and Louisiana State University.
