VOA科学技术2023--Picture Book Explains Bird-Dinosaur Connection

Picture Book Explains Bird-Dinosaur¹ Connection

If you love to watch birds, you can call yourself a bird watcher, or you can call yourself something even more interesting — a dinosaur watcher!

A new picture book called When Dinosaurs² Conquered the Skies: The Incredible Story of Bird Evolution explains the scientific idea that birds are dinosaurs.

The writer Jingmai O'Connor describes herself on Instagram as a "dead bird nerd." With her PhD, she works at the Chicago Field Museum as an expert on the evolution of birds and flying dinosaurs.

O'Connor says people may know that birds are little dinosaurs. But they might not connect that fact to the birds they see.

"Now, people are more and more aware of the fact that birds are living dinosaurs. But despite that, people don't really make the connection."

One purpose of her book, she said, is to make that connection. O'Connor also wants people to see birds as she does – as fascinating flying dinosaurs.

"So, I really hope that people will really truly start to see birds as little dinosaurs and...become more fascinated with birds by understanding that they are part of this, you know, fascinating ancient lineage."

With its clear explanations and colorful pictures by Maria Brzozowska, When Dinosaurs Conquered the Skies can help anyone of any age understand this complex bird evolution.

"When people think of dinosaurs, they think of triceratops, stegosaurus, or, you know, apatosaurus. And if you think about those dinosaurs, they are not particularly bird-like, right?"

O'Connor explains that everyone knows common characteristics of birds. For example, birds have feathers. They use their own body heat to warm their eggs. Birds often lay colored eggs. O'Connor said these bird characteristics evolved from dinosaurs most closely related to them. She added that you need to look at the evolution of one lineage of dinosaurs – therapods.

"So, you really have to look at the evolution of one lineage of dinosaurs – that is the therapod lineage. So, that includes velociraptor or t-rex. And as you look at the evolution of this group, you'll see the appearance of bird characteristics until you eventually reach a point where, you're like, that dinosaur is now a bird."

What is science?

In her book, O'Connor also talks about the larger idea of science – namely the importance of making mistakes. Each mistake, she said, leads us closer to the truth.

"Science is essentially³ a series of mistakes. And every mistake, you know, informs us a little bit more and gives us a little bit more information. But pretty much everything that we think is ‘truth' right now is probably at least partly wrong. You know, there is so much we don't know. But mistakes are part of the process."

Early influences

O'Connor is a Chinese-Irish American who grew up in Pasadena, California. She did not always want to study the remains⁴ of ancient living things. She began studying geology, like her mother.

"But in my case, my mother went back to school to do her Ph.D. when I was around 10 years old. And so, she had four kids. ... So, she would take us with her to the laboratory, but also into the field, which means going out to collect samples or specimens⁶. So, I fell in love with geology."

Then in college, O'Connor took a class and discovered a different but related field of study. The class was paleontology, the study of the bones and remains of ancient living things. Her teacher was a paleontologist.

"But then my first year in college, I took a class by a paleontologist named Dr. Donald Prothero and he was such a wonderful teacher ... that I got hooked!"

In fact, O'Connor said she did not always like birds. But with further study she started to feel differently.

"And then I started, you know, studying birds. I really found out they're such fascinating animals. They're reptiles⁸! But they have evolved to be so different from what we think of as a reptile⁷ that actually even scientists didn't realize they were reptiles until fairly recently."

Sustainability – the larger goal

However, O'Connor had a larger goal in mind when she wrote her book. She said she hopes to leave the reader with a desire to create a more sustainable lifestyle – one that is good for the environment.

"Through having greater respect for the living animals around us, I hope that people start to think more about how they impact the environment through their actions, so that we can all move towards a more sustainable future."

Words in This Story

evolution –n. the scientific idea that living things changed into their many forms through small changes over very long periods of time

nerd –n. (slang) a person who is not socially experienced or has difficulties around people

aware –v. having or showing realization⁹, perception, or knowledge

fascinate –v. to become very interested in something

lineage –n. the list of ancestors that a person or living thing has

characteristic –n. a quality that a person has that makes them different, or similar, to others

specimen⁵ –n. a portion or quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study

hooked –v. fascinated by or devoted¹⁰ to something

impact –n. the force of impression of one thing on another : a significant or major effect

sustainable –adj. of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged

1 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

2 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

6 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

8 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

10 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。