Did hair evolve from feathers?

Question

After watching a show on the history channel where an eagle was being examined, I noticed that the "feathers" on the chest of the eagle looked much more like hair than feathers.

I have also heard that many dinosaurs had feathers, and that is where modern birds evolved from.

This got me thinking; did the mammals hair evolve from feathered animals during the dinosaur times?

Answer 1

I think the big thing to remember here is evolution works like a tree...not a linear line. Mammals birds, and reptiles branched apart millions of years ago. The whole number of legs thing works the same way. All animals with four appendages evolved from a distant ancestor (thought to be a fish). Before that all animals evolved from an ancestor with no limbs...worm. Grab a zoology text book and it is all pretty clear.

Answer 2

I was just asking myself the same thing. But this leads to, did mammals evolve from birds?

I have a hypothesis about Evolution of Species. Species evolved from a single cell to 2 legs in 6 steps:

1. Cell
2. Legs (Animals)
3. 8 Legs (Arachnipods)
4. 6 Legs (Insects)
5. 4 Legs (No Classification)
6) 2 Legs (No Classification)

Of course, this conflicts with current thinking about Reptiles and Mammals. But this makes sense because Man and Knowledge (which also evolved in 6 steps) rose because the evolution of 2 legs produced hands (wings first?), which evolved fingers, gave impetus for signaling, and evolution produced our brains which specialize in signaling (receiving and sending)

I claim the natural distinction between Species is number of legs, not amount of hair. Or feathers. Intelligence evolved because of signaling resulting from the evolution of 2 hands from the evolution of 2 legs.

But I am in direct contradiction with everything I ever learned about Evolution. I have a dual major in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry and Computer Science from Rutgers, some Bioinformatics research experience in San Francisco, and I'm close to a Master's Degree in Biostatistics from USC.

But I'm sure evolution went by legs, not by hair. In 6 steps.

Birds seem to be the 'missing link' between Dinosaurs and Mammals. Feathers evolved from scales. Hair evolved from Feathers.

That makes no senses. What about 4 legged Mammals? They did not evolve from Birds. And there is no such thing as a 4 legged bird. And nothing with 4 legs has feathers.

If my hypothesis is correct, hair evolved independently in 4 legged and 2 legged creatures.

In other words, from insects, evolved 4 legged creatures.

Were they Reptiles, or Mammals.

That is why I claim back then, there was no distinction. From Insects (6 legged creatures), came 4 legged creatures. That were neither Mammalian or Reptilian.

They became recognized as Reptiles, but their classification really belongs to 4 legs. Before Reptiles, Amphibians, before that, Fish.

But still, these are lesser classifications then evolving 4 legs from 2 legs.

But apparently, 2 legs happened on land. Fish legs are Fins.

Still, there are 4 legged Mammals, and 4 legged Reptiles.

We can safely say that 2 legs evolved before hair. So let's look at that. 2 legged Reptiles and 4 legged Reptiles.

Could 2 legged and 4 legged Reptiles develop hair independently?

Watching Life on The Discovery Channel about Birds, and watching the intricate mating rituals of some birds, I began to wonder if Mammals evolved from Birds. If WE evolved from Birds. Hair from Feathers.

But what about 4 legged Reptiles? Did they evolve wings. So some 4 legged Reptiles evolved wings, others evolved 2 legs.

So what I'm saying maybe is, did the evolution of 2 legs begin with Birds?  Maybe it was Mammals and Birds that diverged from 4 legged Reptiles. Birds were the first to have 2 legs. Because they used their other 2 legs for wings.

Tyrannosaurus Rex had 2 legs. And was not a bird. So here is a case where 2 legs evolved without wings first.

But if wings evolved 2 legs, we're saying monkeys evolved from Birds. If thats the case, did hands evolve from wings?

Are there any 2 legged reptiles?

I just read on Wikepedia that birds descended from one group of exclusively bipedal dinosaurs.

So Birds descended from Dinosaurs that already had 2 legs.

So there it is. Dinosaurs evolved 2 legs first. Then birds. Then Mammals. But what about 4 legged Mammals?

2 legs to 4 legs. Mammal 2 and 4 Leggers and Reptile 2 and 4 leggers

Birds wings were the first evolution from 4 legs where the front legs could not be used for walking on. It forced the evolution of distinct function between legs and the other 2 limbs. Which could never be called legs again. They were wings. And represented the first distinct evolution in the brain for managing limbs not used for walking. This is the evolution of 2 legs. It's less a leap of physical evolution then an evolution of the brain. Of treating the wings or arms as distinct from the legs. Wings may represent the first real evolution from 4 legs.

If this is true, than 4 legged mammals either evolved hair independently or reverted back to using 4 legs. Ether could be true.

But I still believe Species evolved:

1. Cell
2. Legs
3. 8 legs
4. 6 legs
5. 4 legs
6 2 legs

How Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals evolved from 4 legs is the question. They certainly did not come from 6 legs (insects). And feathers make  a perfect pregenirator for hair, and the first clear distinction in the use of the 'upper 2 limbs' of a 4 limbed Species.