Don’t move to the city if you want to be close to nature – or so the thinking goes.
One could easily argue that cities are the antithesis of the natural world. They’re artificial, concrete covered landscapes dotted with parks to cultivate plants and zoos to exhibit animals. The entire place has been designed for humans.
Knowing this, I didn’t expect to see much nature when I first moved to Oakland. So, one can only imagine my shock at discovering wild turkeys living within the city.
The dinosaurs are still here, living with us, and thriving. Seriously.
No, I’m not talking about crocodiles or alligators, turtles, or even lizards. While these are all ancient forms of life that existed in some form during the time of the dinosaurs, they evolved from an earlier branch of organisms. In other words, if you climbed up the tree of life, you would reach their branch before you came to that of the dinosaurs.
The group of animals I am referring to are on the same branch as the dinosaurs and, as increasing evidence has shown, are actually descended directly from them. They evolved while the dinosaurs were alive and kept right on thriving after their relatives went extinct around 65 million years ago. The animals I am talking about are classified as aves, however we simply know them as birds.