1. Major Evolutionary Events 65 MYA- PRESENT

2. Birds are endothermic. They can maintain their own internal body temperature.

3. Birds have feathers. These greatly enhance flight and provide excellent insulation for roosting in cold areas of at night; swimming in cold water or flying at altitudes where the temperature is low.

4. Birds have water tight, hard- shelled eggs. Birds have a common ancestor with reptiles, and have similar water tight shells. Birds evolved a hardening compound in their egg shell (phosphatized calcium carbonate) which increases the egg’s strength.

5. Bird’s skin is watertight. This, and their watertight eggs, allowed them to retain moisture and invade drier parts of the land.

6. Bird’s bones are light and hollow. This minimizes weight during flight. Their bodies are rigid and fused. (like the body of a plane). This helps minimize stress on the skeleton during flight.

7. Birds have beaks in place of teeth. Beaks are lighter than teeth. Beaks aren’t good for chewing. Birds have a gizzard where food is crushed and ground up. Some swallow small rocks to help with the grinding up of food. (That’s why chickens and doves peck in the gravel)

8. Birds are more complex than earlier life forms. The birds today are more complex than early birds.

9. What do birds and reptiles have in common? BirdsReptiles

10. Mammals are endothermic They can be active in cold areas.

11. Mammals have hair (even whales have some) This serves as excellent insulation for cold areas.

12. Mammals have mammary glands. They use these to feed their often defenseless young. This adaptation allowed mothers to forage for food themselves and then feed young with the milk they produced.

13. Most mammals have teeth. In meat eaters most teeth are pointed. In plant eaters some teeth are shaped for snipping plant, some for grinding. In some whales, a fringe-like filter called baleen takes the place of teeth.

14. Almost all mammals give birth to live young (not laying eggs).

15. What do mammals and reptiles have in common? MammalsReptiles

16. Continental Drift South America has separated from Antartica and Africa North America has separated from Europe India has moved north and slammed into Asia, forming the Himalayas. Australia separated from Antarctica and moved north. The Rockies and the Andes formed. Land now links the Americas, and the migration of top predators from North America has wiped out many South American animals. Global climate has cooled; giant glaciers and ice caps have formed again in North America, Eurasia, and at the poles.

17. By the end of this time period (now) the continents have drifted into the positions we know today- and the continents drift continues.

18. Major Evolutionary Events 65 MYA- Present  Mammals are abundant; most huge mammals die off, grazing mammals increase.  First primates appear.  Grasses Spread  Continents have moved into their present day locations.  The global climate has cooled.  In the VERY, VERY recent past, the first humans evolve, as primate venture from a forest lifestyle to the plains.

19. Humans-Homo Sapiens Homo Sapiens first show up in the fossil record 95,000 years ago (very close the to end of our timeline) We are relative new comers to this planet.