Question

In terms of evolutionary origin, which one of the following is correct?
A. Birds are closer to mammals
B. Birds are closer to reptiles
C. Both bats and birds originated from the same ancestor group
D. Birds originated from animals like flying lizards

Answer 1

All animals evolved from unicellular ancestors, which are diversified into thirty or forty distinct anatomical designs. When and how this evolution took place has emerged as the focus of debate, the speed of change in evolution, and the mechanisms by which fundamental evolution changes have occurred.

Complete answer: Birds are reptiles. Two types of classifications are used by the biologists, Linnaean and the phylogenetic. The Linnaean system was developed by Carolus Linnaeus. In the Linnaean system, the organisms are grouped according to their characters but not through evolution.
A reptile is an animal that is an ectotherm and has scales, so according to him, birds would not be reptiles. The phylogenetic system was put forth by another biologist named Willi Hennig. According to this system, the organisms were grouped through their ancestry.
So now a reptile is an animal that has been descended from the original group called the reptiles. Both the animals and birds share a common ancestor called reptile-like animals which is Reptiliomorpha but we cannot say that mammals are reptiles
The scenario is different for birds. Birds belong to the group Diapsida which includes other reptiles like turtles, crocodiles, squamates(snakes and lizards), and tuataras.
Hence the correct answer is option B, Birds are closer to reptiles.

Note: Birds are the glorified reptiles which mean that birds have been evolved from the reptile ancestor. All birds have epidermal scales that are horny on the lower parts of their feet and legs. This is the same feature of the reptiles. Birds are covered in feathers. This can be homologous to the horny scales of reptiles which have a similar origin and development from the same germ buds.