122.ARE BIRDS DESCENDED FROM REPTILES?
Not everybody accepts the theory of evolution, but those who do have a theory to explain how birds came to be. There are many different parts of birds that are quite specialized because they have developed the ability to fly. They became warm-blooded because warm-blooded animals can change food into energy quickly. They have feathers, not only to keep warm, but because feathers make lightweight flying surfaces. They lost their teeth, because teeth are made of heavy bone. They have developed legs that act as shock absorbers. Their eyesight is very sharp.
121.WHY ARE HORSES RIDDEN WITH A SADDLE?
Men have ridden horses for thousands of years. Yet, as you can probably remember from the first time you tried to ride a horse, there’s quite an art to riding.
There’s more to riding a horse than avoiding sores and aches and pains. The chief marks of good riding are ease and grace, combined with straightness of posture. When people are trained from earliest childhood, these things come naturally. The cowboys of the West usually get this kind of training, and they can ride without lifting from leather, which means they never bounce on the saddle.
120.WHO FIRST TAMED THE HORSE?
There are few animals that have played as important a role in history as the horse. This is because the horse has been so useful in warfare. Can you imagine what wandering tribes, invading armies, knights, and soldiers all over the world would have done without the horse during the last few thousand years?
We can trace the ancestors of the horse back millions of years. But who first tamed the horse, the animal that we know? It is impossible to say. We know that prehistoric man used the horse as one of his chief sources of food. This was probably long before he thought of using the horse for riding.
