How did feathers evolve? - Carl Zimmer

Kako se razvilo perje? - Carl Zimmer

Translator: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

Prevoditelj: Goran Schmidt Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

Feathers are some of the most remarkable things

Perje spada u najčudesnije pojave

ever made by an animal.

u životinjskom svijetu.

They are gorgeous in their complexity,

Predivno je kompleksno,

delicate in their construction,

delikatno konstruirano,

and yet strong enough to hold a bird

a ipak je dovoljno čvrsto da drži pticu

thousands of feet in the air.

tisućama kilometara u visini.

Like all things in nature,

Poput svega u prirodi

feathers evolved over millions of years

perje je evoluiralo milijunima godina

into their modern form.

do današnjeg oblika.

It could be hard to imagine

Teško je i zamisliti

how this could have happened.

kako se to dogodilo.

After all, what did the intermediate forms look like?

Kako su npr. izgledali posredni oblici?

What good is half a wing,

Kakva je korist od polovice krila,

festooned with half-feathers?

prekrivene polu-perjem?

Thanks to science,

Zahvaljujući znanosti,

we now know that birds are living dinosaurs.

danas znamo da su ptice potomci dinosaura.

You can see the kinship in their skeletons.

Vidljiva je srodnost njihovih kostura.

Certain dinosaurs share some anatomical details with birds

Neki dinosauri dijele određene anatomske osobine s pticama

found in no other animals, such as wish bones.

koje ne nalazimo kod drugih životinja, npr. natprsna kost.

And in the late 1990s,

Krajem 1990-ih

paleontologists started digging up

paleontolozi su pronašli

some compelling support for that idea:

dokaz za tu ideju:

dinosaurs with bits of feathers

Dinosaure s ostacima perja

still preserved on their bodies.

koji su ostali očuvani na njihovom tijelu.

Since then, scientists have found

Otada su znanstvenici pronašli

dozens of species of dinosaurs

desetke vrsta dinosaura

with remnants of feathers.

s ostacima perja.

Some were as small as pigeons,

Neki su bili mali poput golubova

and some were the size of a school bus.

a neki veliki poput autobusa.

If you look at how they are related on a family tree,

Pogledamo li njihovu povezanost na obiteljskom stablu

the evolution of feathers

evolucija perja

doesn't seem quite so impossible.

ne čini se sasvim nemogućom.

The most distant feathered relatives of birds

Najudaljeniji pernati srodnici ptica

had straight feathers that looked like wires.

imali su ravno perje poput žica.

Then these wires split apart,

Potom su se te žice razdijelile

producing simple branches.

u jednostavne grančice.

In many dinosaur lineages,

Kod mnogih vrsta dinosaura

these simple feathers evolved

to jednostavno perje evoluiralo je

into more intricate ones,

u kompleksnije perje

including some that we see today on birds.

poput onoga kakvo danas nalazimo na pticama.

At the same time,

U isto vrijeme,

the feathers spread across the bodies of dinosaurs,

perje se proširilo tijelima dinosaura,

turning from sparse patches of fuzz

pretvarajući se od rijetkog paperja

into dense plumage,

u gusto perje,

which even extended down to their legs.

koje je prekrivalo čak i noge.

A few fossils even preserved some of the molecules

Neki su fosili čak sačuvali i molekule

that give feathers color.

koje perju daju boju.

They reveal a beautiful range of colors:

Otkrivaju prekrasnu paletu boja:

glossy, dark plumage, reminiscent of crows,

sjajno tamno perje koje podsjeća na vrane,

alternating strips of black and white,

zatim na crne i bijele pruge,

or splashes of bright red.

ili mrlje žarko crvene.

Some dinosaurs had high crests on their heads,

Neki dinosauri su imali visoke krijeste na glavi,

and others had long, dramatic tail feathers.

ili dugačko i uzbudljivo perje na repu.

Now, none of these dinosaurs

Međutim, nijedan od tih dinosaura

could use their feathers to fly -

nije mogao letjeti -

their arms were too short

ruke su im bile prekratke

and the rest of their bodies were far too heavy.

a ostatak tijela pretežak.

But, birds don't just use feathers to fly.

No ptice ne koriste perje samo za letenje.

A woodcock uses feathers to blend in perfectly

Šljuka koristi svoje perje kako bi se

with its forest backdrop.

savršeno stopila s okolinom.

An ostrich stretches its wings over its nest

Noj raširi svoja krila iznad gnijezda

to shade its young.

kako bi zaklonio mlade.

A peacock displays its magnificent tail feathers

Paun pokazuje svoje predivno perje na repu

to attract peahens.

kako bi privukao ženke.

Feathers could have served these functions

Perje je moglo imati te funkcije

for dinosaurs too.

i kod dinosaura.

Exactly how feathered dinosaurs took flight

No kako su pernati dinosauri poletjeli

is still a bit of a mystery.

još uvijek je misterij.

But if a small-feathered dinosaur flapped

No ako su dinosauri sitnog perja

its arms as it ran up an incline,

mahali rukama penjući se uzbrdo,

its feathers would have provided extra lift

njihovo perje bi im dalo dodatni potisak

to help it run faster.

kako bi brže trčali.

This accident of physics might have led

Ta slučajnost fizike mogla je dovesti

to the evolution of longer dinosaur arms,

do evolucije dužih ruku u dinosaura,

which would let them run faster

koje bi im omogućile brže trčanje

and even leap short distances through the air.

te čak i kraći let.

Eventually, their arms stretched out into wings.

Naposljetku, ruke su postale krila.

Only then, perhaps 50 million years

Tek tada, možda 50 milijuna godina

after the first wiry feathers evolved,

nakon pojave prvog perja nalik na žicu

did feathers lift those dinosaurs into the sky.

dinosauri su se vinuli u nebo.