VICKIE'S ESSAYS > THEORY ON GRAVITY AND ITS POSSIBLE EFFECTS ON DINOSAURS AND AVIAN EVOLUTION
I. GRAVITY IS NOT CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT THE UNIVERSE. MANY THINGS CAN EFFECT THE FORCE OF GRAVITY IN A CELESTIAL BODY. A. The density of the body. 1) The Earth began as a molten planet, flowing within its core, and along its surface with liquid and gaseous substances. In such a state, the Earth may have had a lower pull of gravity. It wasn’t as dense as it became when it slowly cooled and hardened. Jupiter is many times the size of Earth, but because it isn’t as solid, it can float in one of our oceans, and has a very low gravitational force. Point: Over time, and possibly still ongoing, the Earth’s gravitational force could have (and indeed may still be) increasing.
B. The proximity of celestial neighbors. 1) The moon effects the Earth with its own gravitational forces – pulling at our oceans and affecting our atmospheric conditions. There is an unpopular theory in the circles of Astronomy that the Earth, at one time, had two natural satellites. If this were so, the second satellite would have pulled at the Earth, as well, lessening the effects of Earth’s own gravitational forces. When the second satellite discontinued its existence (for whatever reason), the pull would have been eliminated, causing the gravitational forces of this planet to feel a measured increase. Point: One more possible indication that the gravitational forces of Earth may have experienced an increase at some time in pre-history.
C. Galactic Drift 1) This theory is based on the theory that all bodies in the universe are drifting apart as the universe expands. If this is so, then our own solar system would obey the same laws. All the planets, at one time, would have not only been closer to one another, but closer to the Sun, as well. As stated in the satellite theory, the closer celestial bodies are to one another, the more they pull against the gravitational fields of their neighbors – effectively lessening those fields. As our solar system expanded, and the planets drifted farther apart, this effect would have lessened. Point: though time on a universal event scale is much more vast than our own planet’s history, the increases in gravity still may have changed (though so slightly and slowly as to be unremarkable) over time, and during the time of the dinosaurs.
These three theories indicate not only that gravity is not a constant, but that our own planet must have undergone gravitational changes since it was formed. In addition, all three of these theories indicate that those changes would have resulted in our gravitational force increasing.
II. GRAVITY AND ITS AFFECTS ON THE DINOSAURS A. If the Earth did indeed enjoy a gravitational force less than that of today, then NASA has proven why some dinosaurs were able to evolve into the largest creatures which ever roamed the Earth. Since the space program began, astronauts have dealt with a particularly pesky problem. When they get into zero gravity, they gain weight! NASA nutritionists watch the astronauts’ diets very carefully to help keep them trim and fit while on missions. Astronauts are also subject to rigorous exercise regimens to combat this effect of weightlessness. In space there is no gravity to make the muscles have to work hard, thus not giving the bodies much opportunity to burn off those calories. Point: If weightlessness can cause body mass increase in one individual over a period of weeks, what effect would a lower gravitational force have on the bodies of living organisms over the course of evolutional time?
B. When it comes to the larger, long-necked herbivores, many had very large hearts (and some theorize that some had second “hearts” half way up their necks) in order to pump the blood all the way up to the animals’ brains. Since these hearts were so powerful, many also wonder how the animals were ever able to lower their heads without the pressure blowing their skulls to pieces. If the gravitational forces were indeed less at the time these animals lived, then this would have been much less of a problem.
C. From the warm blooded reptile theory to the over-muscled reasoning, many have tried to decide whether the larger dinosaurs were slow moving, heavy walkers, or whether they were fast on their feet. Lots of evidence point to the larger herbivores roaming the land, as opposed to buoying themselves in swamps, as was originally believed. Even if they were warm blooded, with quick metabolisms, a lesser gravitational force certainly would have allowed the big animals to move around as quickly and nimbly as the evidence suggests.
III. EVOLUTION. A. The process of evolution is theorized to have three major catalysts. The need for food, the need to escape or hide from predators, and reproduction. If we are to assume that the theory of dinosaur-avian evolution is true, then why did the changes take place? 1) The need for food. Today’s birds eat almost everything there is to be eaten. They eat seeds, berries, plants, nectar, fruit, insects, fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and even other birds. Every other land and sea bound animal on Earth eats these exact same things, but without the benefit of feathers or flight. If these animals want something high in the trees, they climb. If they want insects, they wait for them to land, or they lure them to land. If they want fish out on open waters, they swim or wade. The wolf hunts and ambushes the rabbit, and the deer just stand there and eat the berries, fruit and seeds. Point: The need for food doesn’t seem to be a very good argument for learning to fly. 2) The need to escape or hide from predators. Every animal on Earth is part of the food chain, and so every animal is a potential meal for another animal. Only birds, however, can fly out of harm’s way. But do they really need to? All the rest can run, hide, or get themselves into inaccessible places in order to escape being eaten. A fox will eat a rabbit one day and a bird the next, if he can catch them. Sometimes, the rabbit may escape by running, but the bird may be caught, despite its ability to take flight. And if flight was the only answer to escaping predators, then why did so many develop other means to this end? Why have they grown plumage which matches their surroundings? Why have they developed elaborate charades and behaviors? Point: The need to escape or hide from predators also seems to be a dubious reason for the evolution of feathers and wings. 3) Reproduction. As with the two other catalysts for evolution, it has to be noted that every other animal on the planet reproduces and cares for their young without benefit of flight and feathers. In addition, a great many bird species nest and raise their young on the ground. Point: feathers and the ability of flight are not necessary developments for mating, or rearing and protecting young.
Though any of these catalysts could have, through the particulars of environment and predator base, cause such an evolutionary change in a specie, it is against all common sense to believe that these needs changed an entire family of animal life, but no other. If the best answer to escape was flight, then why don’t all animals fly? If the best way to find food was to fly, then why don’t all animals fly?
B. Of course, bats, flying squirrels and the Australian sugar glider have the ability to fly, but these evolutionary changes took place in these animals much more recently than the changes which took place to turn dinosaurs into birds. They also took place in animals which were arboreal in the first place, and were likely a means to get from one tree to another without exposing themselves to predators on the ground. Bats are farther along than flying squirrels and sugar gliders, but none of these animals can claim what the birds have done. Feathers created specifically to aid them in all aspects of flight, and lightweight bone structures to lessen the burden.
IV. IF ALL THE REGULAR CATALYSTS FOR THE EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT OF FEATHERS AND THE ABILITY TO FLY WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE CHANGES, THEN WHAT WAS? A. If we assume, for the reasons given earlier in this report, that the gravitational force of Earth was less in the time of the dinosaurs than it is today, then a change in that force might be the catalyst for the change from dinosaurs to birds. 1) Is the cooling process of a planet a slow, measured and steady process? Or, can it be slower at some times and faster at others? Could the dinosaurs have experienced a time when the process was happening faster? 2) Could that second theoretical moon have ceased to exist during the time of the dinosaurs? 3) In Galactic Drift, wouldn’t it happen faster in the beginning, then slow down as the expansion increased? The way water flows faster from the source, then slows down once it spreads out? If so, were the dinosaurs alive when the solar system was drifting apart at a higher rate of speed? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then the dinosaurs may have lived long enough at the right time in history for their evolution to have been effected by an increasing gravitational force. If wings and feathers were not needed to eat, escape or breed, could they have been needed for lift? Is that why only birds fly? Did this change begin to take place before mammals roamed the land? Fish and sea-going animals wouldn't have needed it, because the water buoys their bodies against the Earth's gravity. Mammals weren’t around yet, and insects have always been too small to be effected. The reptiles we have today were either descended from the smaller species that weren’t greatly effected by the changes, or they were still hanging out in the water for much of their lives, and didn’t need it. Note, though, that snakes, lizards, crocodiles, alligators, etc., are built really close to the ground. With the possible exception of the Australian frilled lizard, there are no reptiles today which walk tall on straight, extended legs, as did many dinosaur species.
B. If you are walking along and stumble, what is your first, physical reaction? You extend your arms! In an environment with an increasing gravitational force, the dinosaurs’ bodies would have been being pulled more heavily than the mass and muscle structure their ancestors gave them were able to handle. Since many dinosaur species got around on their hind legs, it would be natural for them to flail their arms about, trying to remain upright and steady while they moved around in that situation. Also, over time, their bodies may also have developed a lighter bone structure to help with the gravitational increase. Perhaps this change was more quickly achieved than developing smaller bodies – especially when you consider how much smaller those bodies would have to get, or have gotten! It would take hundreds of thousands of years to shrink an animal the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex to one the size of a hawk.
C. The development of feathers would also have been a quicker fix than a change in size. The filaments and structure of a single feather are designed not only for strength and maneuverability in flight, but they are also designed to create lift when air passes over them. Since one or two reptile species of that time had already grown primitive feather designs, we know that feathers were already a capability of dinosaur physiology (evolutionarily speaking).
With upright dinosaurs running around, flailing their arms while growing feathers for lift – not to mention getting smaller and lighter – flight would have been inevitable.
A. The density of the body.
1) The Earth began as a molten planet, flowing within its core, and along its surface with liquid and gaseous substances. In such a state, the Earth may have had a lower pull of gravity. It wasn’t as dense as it became when it slowly cooled and hardened. Jupiter is many times the size of Earth, but because it isn’t as solid, it can float in one of our oceans, and has a very low gravitational force. Point: Over time, and possibly still ongoing, the Earth’s gravitational force could have (and indeed may still be) increasing.
B. The proximity of celestial neighbors.
1) The moon effects the Earth with its own gravitational forces – pulling at our oceans and affecting our atmospheric conditions. There is an unpopular theory in the circles of Astronomy that the Earth, at one time, had two natural satellites. If this were so, the second satellite would have pulled at the Earth, as well, lessening the effects of Earth’s own gravitational forces. When the second satellite discontinued its existence (for whatever reason), the pull would have been eliminated, causing the gravitational forces of this planet to feel a measured increase. Point: One more possible indication that the gravitational forces of Earth may have experienced an increase at some time in pre-history.
C. Galactic Drift
1) This theory is based on the theory that all bodies in the universe are drifting apart as the universe expands. If this is so, then our own solar system would obey the same laws. All the planets, at one time, would have not only been closer to one another, but closer to the Sun, as well. As stated in the satellite theory, the closer celestial bodies are to one another, the more they pull against the gravitational fields of their neighbors – effectively lessening those fields. As our solar system expanded, and the planets drifted farther apart, this effect would have lessened. Point: though time on a universal event scale is much more vast than our own planet’s history, the increases in gravity still may have changed (though so slightly and slowly as to be unremarkable) over time, and during the time of the dinosaurs.
These three theories indicate not only that gravity is not a constant, but that our own planet must have undergone gravitational changes since it was formed. In addition, all three of these theories indicate that those changes would have resulted in our gravitational force increasing.
II. GRAVITY AND ITS AFFECTS ON THE DINOSAURS
A. If the Earth did indeed enjoy a gravitational force less than that of today, then NASA has proven why some dinosaurs were able to evolve into the largest creatures which ever roamed the Earth. Since the space program began, astronauts have dealt with a particularly pesky problem. When they get into zero gravity, they gain weight! NASA nutritionists watch the astronauts’ diets very carefully to help keep them trim and fit while on missions. Astronauts are also subject to rigorous exercise regimens to combat this effect of weightlessness. In space there is no gravity to make the muscles have to work hard, thus not giving the bodies much opportunity to burn off those calories. Point: If weightlessness can cause body mass increase in one individual over a period of weeks, what effect would a lower gravitational force have on the bodies of living organisms over the course of evolutional time?
B. When it comes to the larger, long-necked herbivores, many had very large hearts (and some theorize that some had second “hearts” half way up their necks) in order to pump the blood all the way up to the animals’ brains. Since these hearts were so powerful, many also wonder how the animals were ever able to lower their heads without the pressure blowing their skulls to pieces. If the gravitational forces were indeed less at the time these animals lived, then this would have been much less of a problem.
C. From the warm blooded reptile theory to the over-muscled reasoning, many have tried to decide whether the larger dinosaurs were slow moving, heavy walkers, or whether they were fast on their feet. Lots of evidence point to the larger herbivores roaming the land, as opposed to buoying themselves in swamps, as was originally believed. Even if they were warm blooded, with quick metabolisms, a lesser gravitational force certainly would have allowed the big animals to move around as quickly and nimbly as the evidence suggests.
III. EVOLUTION.
A. The process of evolution is theorized to have three major catalysts. The need for food, the need to escape or hide from predators, and reproduction. If we are to assume that the theory of dinosaur-avian evolution is true, then why did the changes take place?
1) The need for food. Today’s birds eat almost everything there is to be eaten. They eat seeds, berries, plants, nectar, fruit, insects, fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and even other birds. Every other land and sea bound animal on Earth eats these exact same things, but without the benefit of feathers or flight. If these animals want something high in the trees, they climb. If they want insects, they wait for them to land, or they lure them to land. If they want fish out on open waters, they swim or wade. The wolf hunts and ambushes the rabbit, and the deer just stand there and eat the berries, fruit and seeds. Point: The need for food doesn’t seem to be a very good argument for learning to fly.
2) The need to escape or hide from predators. Every animal on Earth is part of the food chain, and so every animal is a potential meal for another animal. Only birds, however, can fly out of harm’s way. But do they really need to? All the rest can run, hide, or get themselves into inaccessible places in order to escape being eaten. A fox will eat a rabbit one day and a bird the next, if he can catch them. Sometimes, the rabbit may escape by running, but the bird may be caught, despite its ability to take flight. And if flight was the only answer to escaping predators, then why did so many develop other means to this end? Why have they grown plumage which matches their surroundings? Why have they developed elaborate charades and behaviors? Point: The need to escape or hide from predators also seems to be a dubious reason for the evolution of feathers and wings.
3) Reproduction. As with the two other catalysts for evolution, it has to be noted that every other animal on the planet reproduces and cares for their young without benefit of flight and feathers. In addition, a great many bird species nest and raise their young on the ground. Point: feathers and the ability of flight are not necessary developments for mating, or rearing and protecting young.
Though any of these catalysts could have, through the particulars of environment and predator base, cause such an evolutionary change in a specie, it is against all common sense to believe that these needs changed an entire family of animal life, but no other. If the best answer to escape was flight, then why don’t all animals fly? If the best way to find food was to fly, then why don’t all animals fly?
B. Of course, bats, flying squirrels and the Australian sugar glider have the ability to fly, but these evolutionary changes took place in these animals much more recently than the changes which took place to turn dinosaurs into birds. They also took place in animals which were arboreal in the first place, and were likely a means to get from one tree to another without exposing themselves to predators on the ground. Bats are farther along than flying squirrels and sugar gliders, but none of these animals can claim what the birds have done. Feathers created specifically to aid them in all aspects of flight, and lightweight bone structures to lessen the burden.
IV. IF ALL THE REGULAR CATALYSTS FOR THE EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT OF FEATHERS AND THE ABILITY TO FLY WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE CHANGES, THEN WHAT WAS?
A. If we assume, for the reasons given earlier in this report, that the gravitational force of Earth was less in the time of the dinosaurs than it is today, then a change in that force might be the catalyst for the change from dinosaurs to birds.
1) Is the cooling process of a planet a slow, measured and steady process? Or, can it be slower at some times and faster at others? Could the dinosaurs have experienced a time when the process was happening faster?
2) Could that second theoretical moon have ceased to exist during the time of the dinosaurs?
3) In Galactic Drift, wouldn’t it happen faster in the beginning, then slow down as the expansion increased? The way water flows faster from the source, then slows down once it spreads out? If so, were the dinosaurs alive when the solar system was drifting apart at a higher rate of speed?
If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then the dinosaurs may have lived long enough at the right time in history for their evolution to have been effected by an increasing gravitational force. If wings and feathers were not needed to eat, escape or breed, could they have been needed for lift? Is that why only birds fly? Did this change begin to take place before mammals roamed the land? Fish and sea-going animals wouldn't have needed it, because the water buoys their bodies against the Earth's gravity. Mammals weren’t around yet, and insects have always been too small to be effected. The reptiles we have today were either descended from the smaller species that weren’t greatly effected by the changes, or they were still hanging out in the water for much of their lives, and didn’t need it. Note, though, that snakes, lizards, crocodiles, alligators, etc., are built really close to the ground. With the possible exception of the Australian frilled lizard, there are no reptiles today which walk tall on straight, extended legs, as did many dinosaur species.
B. If you are walking along and stumble, what is your first, physical reaction? You extend your arms! In an environment with an increasing gravitational force, the dinosaurs’ bodies would have been being pulled more heavily than the mass and muscle structure their ancestors gave them were able to handle. Since many dinosaur species got around on their hind legs, it would be natural for them to flail their arms about, trying to remain upright and steady while they moved around in that situation. Also, over time, their bodies may also have developed a lighter bone structure to help with the gravitational increase. Perhaps this change was more quickly achieved than developing smaller bodies – especially when you consider how much smaller those bodies would have to get, or have gotten! It would take hundreds of thousands of years to shrink an animal the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex to one the size of a hawk.
C. The development of feathers would also have been a quicker fix than a change in size. The filaments and structure of a single feather are designed not only for strength and maneuverability in flight, but they are also designed to create lift when air passes over them. Since one or two reptile species of that time had already grown primitive feather designs, we know that feathers were already a capability of dinosaur physiology (evolutionarily speaking).
With upright dinosaurs running around, flailing their arms while growing feathers for lift – not to mention getting smaller and lighter – flight would have been inevitable.