What did people believe about the evolution of birds 200 years ago?
1 Answer
Well, 200 years ago would be before the concept of evolution was developed. At this time in Europe and North America people largely believed that these different, but similar looking birds, were God's creations.
Explanation:
Prior to Darwin's theory of natural selection and evolution, people in Europe and North America were very religious and believed that all species were God's special creation. They also believed that all species had been around for around the last 6,000 years and they were unchanging over this time.
Today, we might speculate that these birds may have had a common ancestor going back to the break-up of the supercontinent Pangea about 180 million years ago when all the contents were together. DNA studies might be used to test this idea. This may also be an example of convergent evolution, wherein these bird species are not really related, but evolution converged on an ostrich-like bird on each continent.
