DID birds evolve feathers, beaks and flight simply as a result of becoming
better parents?
James Carey from the University of California at Davis suggests ancestral
birds evolved beaks to help feed their young. Feathers would have allowed them
to keep their eggs warm, while longer arms helped them to protect and manipulate
their eggs.
The decisive leap towards flight would have occurred when birds moved their
nests into the trees for protection. Long, feathered arms would have helped them
glide or parachute to the ground, leading eventually to powered flight (
Archaeopteryx, vol 19, p 97). But others are sceptical.…
