The theory that “birds evolved from dinosaurs,” as Darwin claimed, has been debated for more than 150 years and is now considered certain with the discovery of feathered dinosaurs. But how exactly do we think that dinosaurs evolved into birds in the first place? It is not like Pokemon or Godzilla, which gradually change their appearance into other animals as they grow up.

Birds are born from a single fertilized egg cell inside an eggshell. Dinosaurs must have been born from a single fertilized egg in the same way. Therefore, the evolution of dinosaurs into birds means that the developmental process that created dinosaurs has changed, and an animal with a developmental process that creates birds has been born. Can that really happen? In this course, we will learn the basics of how dinosaurs evolved into birds from the viewpoint of “evolutionary embryology,” which looks for the mechanism of animal evolution in the developmental process of animals.

In the first week, we will learn the basics of embryology. We will explain that all animals are made of cells, that they develop, and that cells differentiate.

In the second week, students will learn about the importance of proteins and genes in development and the connections between animals through heredity. You will also learn about the terms genome, DNA, and gene expression.

In the third week, we will discuss the developmental process of limbs, especially how fingers are produced. Furthermore, we will explain the principles that produce differences in animal morphology by altering the mechanism of development.

In the fourth week, we will discuss the relationship between dinosaurs and birds and their evolution. The bird enhancer sequence, which makes a bird a bird, was introduced into the genome during the evolution from dinosaurs to birds. The course will bring together what we have learned up to that point to understand what bird enhancers are.

*This course has the same content as the first course offered in January 2020, the second course offered in November 2020, the third course offered in August 2021, the fourth course offered in June 2022, the fifth course offered in June 2023, and the sixth course offered in June 2024, with some changes in assignments.