Thursday, February 21, 2013

Murderous Great Tits!

     The link between the bird and dinosaur may be growing larger, and the appearance of dinosaurs is becoming fluffier. Researchers have been accepting the fact that birds belong to a specialized subgroup of theropods (encompassing T-Rex and Velociraptors), meaning these modern birds are the only dinosaurs to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 65 million years ago. So when the thought of a dinosaur comes to mind (especially a T-Rex or a Velociraptor) most people would associate the kind of terror depicted in Jurassic Park; the large, dangerous, relentless and blood-thirsty savages. From a more educated perspective, dinosaurs are not crazy savage beasts, but can definitely be aggressive and dangerous given the opportunity. Therefore, I have to pose the question: if there is a strong link between the dinosaurs and modern birds, does this include the savage behavior of the dinosaurs?
    One may think so if ever exposed to some Great Tits, they’re dangerous if not treated in a careful manner, where observing is probably preferred to the hands-on approach. These Great Tits may look like beautiful, awe-inspiring, and docile creatures, yet do not underestimate the power of Great Tits. Because of certain evidence and documentation from researchers, one may be led to believe that Great Tits are the murderous, blood-thirsty, savages that are most closely related to that terrorizing assumption of dinosaur behavior.
    These Tits are found throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central & Northern Asia and parts of North Africa; and they don’t tend to migrate unless exposed to very harsh winter (Great Tits do not like the extreme cold). Great Tits are quite colorful, exhibiting a bit of black, yellow, olive, and white. The go –to meal of choice is insects, but have been known to consume a wider variety of organisms such as small bats or even other birds. There have been several recorded cases of the Great Tits having a habit of picking at the bones of hoofed mammals, eating fat and tissues of hanged people back in the day, and more recently leaving a trail of bird carcasses in their wake.
Take your Tits seriously, or else.        


Nick Mulone (3)

7 comments:

  1. It's hard to imagine that such a small, beautiful bird is so hostile. It's interesting that the Great Tit was able to maintain the trait for aggressive behavior from the dinosaurs even though they had a different diet. I definitely would not want to throw down with a bird that eats its own kind.

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  2. What type of behavior exactly is it that tends to make these Great Tits specifically more so like dinosaurs then any other bird species. For example Eagles or falcons which be extremely aggressive and are well know for the predatory skills and diets? Why the Great Tit?


    Bryan Cohoon

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  3. This post is a great example of how related organisms can show great physical diversity yet maintain some behavioral traits. It is because of advances in genetic identification that researchers could deduce that birds belong to the specialized sub group Theropod and therefore be considered dinosaurs. It goes to show that in order to understand who we and our ancestors are, we must continue our efforts working in the research field.

    Marshall Moini

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  4. A similar comparison can be made among felines. The tiger is more comparable to the saber-toothed cat, but your average house cat still shows signs of aggression when it needs to. We think of their diet as being either dry or wet catfood, but when it comes down to it they will kill rodents and birds when they can. (1)

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  5. Is that all that makes the great tits linked more strongly to dinosaurs or is there more of a story behind their aggression?

    Sunni-Lynn Farias (1)

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  6. In the future I would recommend writing an article on the Slippery Dick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_dick

    I really enjoyed reading about the Great Tit and I feel your writing style could be well applied to the aforementioned species of fish, and make for an informative and easy to read piece.

    Michael Ball (1)

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  7. What a cool article, you would never think of birds behaving in this way. I would like to see more correlation on dinosaurs and modern birds! :)

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