Facts and Information
There are fossil remains that have been found that show the Ostrich has existed for millions of years. It makes them a very interesting living creature to study based on such information. There are many questions that we have about the Ostrich in terms of their size. Many experts believe that the evolution process allowed them to survival all of that time. It is really interesting to look into what has been found.
For example their very long and powerful legs. They may have developed them as well as the larger size so that they could fight off predators. They aren’t able to fly and that could be due to their heavy size that developed over time. To make up for that though they developed their very fast speed.
Some believe that there were huge fires and the skies were dark and full of pollution due to a meteor exploding and killing off the dinosaurs. If that did occur then perhaps the Ostrich evolved to be a land animal due to it being too dangerous in the air for them. The long neck may have developed to help them get food that was higher up which is the speculation for the Giraffe as well. To stay on land they had to be stronger, bigger, and faster than they were in flight.
There are only five species of Ostrich (one extinct species) so that is also something interesting to look at. With most birds they have evolved and branched off in so many directions that it is hard to trace them all back to a common ancestor. This particular bird though is easier to create a history of because there aren’t so many branches out there to get tangled up with.
The earliest Ostrich fossils that have been found were located in the Palaeotis by the steppes in Asia. What makes it hard to fully understand the developments though is that most of these early fossils weren’t found in one piece. Instead, they were found in fragments that had to be reconstructed by experts. Even with large segments missing though they were able to get a good understanding of the body design of the Ostrich.
What isn’t known though is what happened to the Ostrich in China. There are fossil remains that show them to have lived there long ago. Yet the dating of them may indicate that around the time of the Ice Age they were extinct. Most of what we see in terms of the Ostrich from there in early forms of writing and drawings and that is where plenty of information comes to light about them long ago.
Around the 18th Century there were also writing and drawings relating to the findings of Ostrich around the Indian Ocean. This is around the Island of Madagascar. Even though there are plenty of stories and images preserved there hasn’t been a single fossil found that resembles an Ostrich.
As a result that leads many experts to believe that during that period of time the Ostrich may have looked very different. There are quite a few theories but that is all we know about what has shaped them. We don’t know what their early habits were or eating. We can only make assumptions.
What we do know is that even with changes to the environment, the Ostrich has been able to evolve and to survive. It is a very interesting bird to say the least. Perhaps one day we will have all of the answers about what occurred with them so very long ago. Then we can re-create their amazing transformation over time.
