What adaptive advantage allowed the ancestors of modern beaked birds to survive the ecological collapse?
Answer
They possessed metabolic adaptations and gizzards allowing subsistence on resilient foods like seeds and nuts.
The key factor differentiating the successful lineage of modern bird ancestors from the extinct toothed forms was their superior adaptability in food acquisition following the planetary shock. While tooth-bearing species required volatile, freshly captured prey, the ancestors of modern birds had already evolved toothless beaks, gizzards, and related metabolic adaptations. These tools enabled them to efficiently process more resilient, stored resources, specifically mentioning seeds and nuts that could remain viable in the soil even after the collapse of photosynthetic life on the surface.
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