Dinosaurs, chickens, and evolution | Dana Jones Rashid | TEDxBozeman

Описание: Not all dinosaurs went extinct. Birds, some of the most successful species on our planet, are the only dinosaurs that survived the meteor extinction event. Their unique biologies can shed light on their dinosaur ancestors, and can teach us about evolution. Dr. Rashid describes how we are using modern chickens and new technologies to not only understand what happened in avian dinosaur evolution, but actually how it happened. This is a tremendously exciting time in science, where ongoing technological breakthroughs are allowing us to answer some of the most fundamental scientific questions. We can now ask, and answer, why do we see such spectacular species diversity, and how did all these differences between species occur?

Dana Jones Rashid is a developmental biologist who has been working with Jack Horner on the DinoChicken Project. Over the last four years, she has been studying the evolution of birds from their dinosaur ancestors. This work delves into the genetics and physical changes that have occurred in birds over the last 150 million years, from the time that birds first emerged as their own distinct group of dinosaurs. One of the overriding goals for the project is public education of science, especially evolutionary science. To this end, Dr. Rashid talks to local schools, has participated in television programs and magazine articles, and sits on the Science on Screen committee in Bozeman. She has lived in Bozeman for the last seventeen years, and is a member of the Cell Biology and Neuroscience Department at Montana State University.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx