http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/early_birds/ Read about the evolution of avian species. How did the earliest birds evolve? Science articles and pictures. en-us Fri, 16 May 2008 15:05:01 EDT Fri, 16 May 2008 15:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/fossils_ruins/early_birds/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423171524.htm Scientists have discovered why birds, unlike mammals, lack a tissue that is specialized to generate heat. There is a surprising implication that the same lack of heat-generating tissue may have contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs. Sun, 27 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423171524.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424140418.htm Putting more meat on the theory that dinosaurs' closest living relatives are modern-day birds, molecular analysis of a shred of 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein -- along with that of 21 modern species -- confirms that dinosaurs share common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators. Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080424140418.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080217102131.htm The evolution of human speech was far more complex than is implied by some recent attempts to link it to a specific gene a professor of computational linguistics. Some researchers in recent years have speculated that mutations in a gene called Foxp2 might have played a fundamental role in the evolution of human language. Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080217102131.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205171749.htm Did modern birds originate around the time of the dinosaurs' demise, or have they been around far longer? The question is at the center of a sometimes contentious "rocks versus clocks" debate between paleontologists, whose estimates are based on the fossil record, and scientists who use "molecular clock" methods to study evolutionary history. Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080205171749.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071107074326.htm Scientists have discovered how dinosaurs used to breathe in what provides clues to how they evolved and how they might have lived. Theropod dinosaurs like the Velociraptor had similar respiratory systems to present-day diving birds, such as marine birds and wildfowl. Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071107074326.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071105120612.htm The earliest birds acted more like turkeys than common cuckoos, according to a new article. By comparing the claw curvatures of ancient and modern birds, the researchers provide new evidence that the evolutionary ancestors of birds primarily made their livings on the ground rather than in trees. Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071105120612.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070920145402.htm Finding of quill knobs on fossilized velociraptor bone demonstrates that even large dinosaurs were feathered and may have descended from animals capable of flight. Scientists have known for years that many dinosaurs had feathers. Now the presence of feathers has been documented in velociraptor, one of the most iconic of dinosaurs and a close relative of birds. Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070920145402.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070906140748.htm Paleontologists have long theorized that miniaturization was one of the last stages in the long series of changes required in order for dinosaurs to make the evolutionary "leap" to take flight and so become what we call birds. New evidence from a tiny Mongolian dinosaur, however, may leave some current theories about the evolution of flight up in the air. Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070906140748.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070816143814.htm An Australian bird has been found to produce smaller, less nourishing eggs when it breeds in the presence of other "helper" birds that provide child-care assistance. This unique adaptation enables the birds to live longer and breed more often than females without helpers. Tue, 21 Aug 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070816143814.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070816121111.htm Researchers have found that New Caledonian crows -- which are known to make complex food-getting tools in the wild -- can also spontaneously use one tool on another to get a snack. The birds' tool-use skills rival those seen among great apes, according to the researchers. Moreover, it appears that the birds may have solved the problem that confronted them by using analogical reasoning rather than simple trial and error. Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070816121111.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070625131635.htm Two heretofore undiscovered penguin species -- one of which was over 5 feet tall -- reached equatorial regions tens of millions of years earlier than expected and during a period when the earth was much warmer than it is now. Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070625131635.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070604215016.htm What did dinosaurs hear? Probably a lot of low frequency sounds, like the heavy footsteps of another dinosaur, if University of Maryland professor Robert Dooling and his colleagues are right. What they likely couldn't hear were the high pitched sounds that birds make. Tue, 05 Jun 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070604215016.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070307153009.htm They might be giants, but many dinosaurs apparently had genomes no larger than that of a modern hummingbird. So say scientists who've linked bone cell and genome size among living species and then used that new understanding to gauge the genome sizes of 31 species of extinct dinosaurs and birds, whose bone cells can be measured from the fossil record. Thu, 08 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070307153009.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070305202635.htm Cooperative behavior is a classic puzzle in evolutionary biology. Some cooperation occurs in close-knit family groups and helping kin with similar genes explains apparently selfless behavior. But lance-tailed manakin males cooperate in spectacular courtship displays with unrelated partners. When the dance is over only the dominant male gets the chance to mate. The "wingman" apprentice however benefits by learning how to do a successful dance. Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070305202635.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061219180534.htm An international team led by University of Adelaide palaeontologist Trevor Worthy has discovered a unique, primitive type of land mammal that lived at least 16 million years ago on New Zealand. The discovery of tiny fossilised bones of a mouselike creature in the Central Otago region is the first hard evidence that New Zealand once had its own indigenous land mammals. The finding could prompt a major rewrite of prehistory textbooks, say scientists. Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061219180534.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061218094135.htm An American Museum of Natural History paleontologist and his colleagues have named a new order of mammals based on their description of a fossil of a bat- or squirrel-sized Mesozoic mammal, called Volaticotherium antiquus (meaning "ancient gliding beast"), which was capable of gliding flight. The rock beds that yielded the fossil date to at least 125 million years ago, so the new fossil extends the earliest record for gliding flight in mammals by 70 million years or more and indicates that mammals experimented with gliding flight and aerial life at about the same time that birds first took to the skies, possibly even earlier. Mon, 18 Dec 2006 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061218094135.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061218081421.htm Brown University and Harvard University scientists created a 3-D model of a gliding pigeon, put alligators on a treadmill, and examined rare Chinese fossils to better understand the evolution of flight. They learned how modern birds balance an array of forces, from the pull of muscles to the pull of gravity, at the shoulder joint. They discovered that this "force balance system" changed over time so that a single ligament acts as a linchpin in today's fliers. Results are published online in Nature. Mon, 18 Dec 2006 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061218081421.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061213104202.htm Small but remarkable fossils found in New Zealand will prompt a major rewrite of prehistory textbooks, showing for the first time that the so-called "land of birds" was once home to mammals as well. Thu, 14 Dec 2006 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061213104202.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060922094617.htm The earliest known ancestor of modern-day birds took to the skies by gliding from trees using primitive feathered wings on their arms and legs, according to new research by a University of Calgary paleontologist. In a paper published in the journal Paleobiology, Department of Biological Sciences Ph.D. student Nick Longrich challenges the idea that birds began flying by taking off from the ground while running and shows that the dinosaur-like bird Archaeopteryx soared using wing-like feathers on all of its limbs. Fri, 22 Sep 2006 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060922094617.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060713154238.htm Did non-avian dinosaurs show survival patterns akin to extant living dinosaurs, the birds, as did their crocodilian cousins? Or, did they mirror that of more distantly related dinosaurs that lived in a similar environment? A pile of bones from the North American tyrannosaur Albertosaurus sarcophagus may hold the answer. Tue, 18 Jul 2006 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060713154238.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060615234900.htm Five fossil specimens of a near-modern bird found in the Gansu Province of northwestern China show that early birds likely evolved in an aquatic environment. The findings suggest that Gansus yumenesis, which lived some 105 to 115 million years ago, were much like the ducks or loons found today. These birds are early ancestors to the enormous assortment of birds seen today. Thu, 15 Jun 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060615234900.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060501100950.htm An article by Kenneth P. Dial and two co-authors in the May 2006 issue of BioScience summarizes experimental evidence indicating that ancestral protobirds incapable of flight could have used their protowings to improve hindlimb traction and thus better navigate steep slopes and obstructions. Mon, 01 May 2006 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060501100950.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060412221532.htm In a new study from the May issue of the American Naturalist, Alan de Queiroz and Javier Rodriguez-Robles (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) test Darwin's theory that many current traits can be explained by the ancestral lineage of a species. For instance, predators that have evolved a taste for a certain prey, can go on to develop a taste for the prey's eggs. Thu, 13 Apr 2006 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060412221532.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051117091736.htm By comparing the genetic code retrieved from 6,000-year-old remains of Adelie penguins in Antarctica with that of modern Adelies living at the same site as their ancestors, an international team of researchers has shown that microevolution, the process of evolutionary change at or below the species level, has taken place in the population. Thu, 17 Nov 2005 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/11/051117091736.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051018071921.htm The evolution of airplanes from the Wright Brothers' first biplanes to monoplanes was an inadvertent replay of the much earlier evolution of dinosaur flight, say two dino flight experts. According to paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee and retired aeronautical engineer R.J. Templin, a small early Chinese dinosaur called Microraptor gui used a two-level, biplane wing configuration to fly from tree to tree in the early Cretaceous. Tue, 18 Oct 2005 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051018071921.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051013082546.htm A 90-million-year-old dinosaur recently discovered in Patagonia demonstrates that dromaeosaurs, carnivorous theropods that include Velociraptor, originated much earlier than previously thought. They originated during the Jurassic, up to 180 million years ago, rather than the Cretaceous. Buitreraptor gonzalezorum's birdlike features -- its huge, hollow wishbone; winglike forelimbs; and bird-like pelvis -- provide further link dinosaurs to birds. This finding implies that flight may have evolved twice: once in birds and once among this group of Gondwanan dromaeosaurs. Thu, 13 Oct 2005 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051013082546.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051010085411.htm No good evidence exists that fossilized structures found in China and which some paleontologists claim are the earliest known rudimentary feathers were really feathers at all, a renowned ornithologist says. Instead, the fossilized patterns appear to be bits of decomposed skin and supporting tissues that just happen to resemble feathers to a modest degree. Mon, 10 Oct 2005 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051010085411.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050727060446.htm A new study by Joe Yuichiro Wakano and Yasuo Ihara in the August 2005 issue of the American Naturalist investigates a game-theoretical model in which females gain a direct benefit by multiple mating from the paternal care they elicit for their offspring. As a result, various combinations of male parental care and female multiple mating evolve. Wed, 27 Jul 2005 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050727060446.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050719001803.htm What could the fierce dinosaur T. rex and a modern songbird such as the sparrow possibly have in common? Their pulmonary systems may have been more similar than scientists previously thought, according to new research from Ohio University and Harvard University. Tue, 19 Jul 2005 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/07/050719001803.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050602173113.htm Paleontologists at North Carolina State University have determined that a 68 million year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil from Montana is that of a young female, and that she was producing eggs when she died. Fri, 03 Jun 2005 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050602173113.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050522202457.htm The first fossil of a sleeping non-avian dinosaur has been described by a pair of American Museum of Natural History paleontologists. The small bird-like dinosaur is preserved in a remarkable life-like pose, with its head tucked between its forearm and trunk with its tail encircling its body. Mon, 23 May 2005 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050522202457.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050123211130.htm Newly published North Carolina State University research into the evolution of birds shows the first definitive fossil proof linking close relatives of living birds to a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Mon, 24 Jan 2005 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050123211130.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050111093910.htm Gigantic eagles swooping from the skies to rescue Frodo and Sam in the Lord of the Rings may not be just the stuff of legends and fairytales, according to research published in the journal PloS Biology. Tue, 11 Jan 2005 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/01/050111093910.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041206191407.htm Drawing on experiments with blue jays, a team of University of Minnesota researchers has found what may be the evolutionary basis for impulsive behavior. Such behavior may have evolved because in the wild, snatching up small rewards like food morsels rather than waiting for something bigger and better to come along can lead to getting more rewards in the long run. Thu, 09 Dec 2004 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041206191407.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040214081732.htm Fossilized bones found in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, are likely those of the earliest known South American penguin, which probably lived 20 million years earlier than scientists had supposed. The new find doubles the known fossil record of penguins in South America. Sat, 14 Feb 2004 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040214081732.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031030062123.htm A study released this week gives a clearer picture of what went on inside the pterosaur's head. When scientists using skull fossils examined the neuroanatomy responsible for flight control and prey spotting, they found key structures to be specialized and enlarged, a discovery that could revise views of how vision, flight, and the brain itself evolved. Thu, 30 Oct 2003 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031030062123.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/01/030117081305.htm Two-legged dinosaurs may have used their forelimbs as wing-like structures to propel themselves rapidly up steep inclines long before they took to the skies, reports a University of Montana researcher in the January 17 issue of the journal Science. The new theory adds a middle step that may link two current and opposing explanations for how reptiles evolved into flying birds. Fri, 17 Jan 2003 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/01/030117081305.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021031071204.htm Scientists from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California have, for the first time, shown experimentally the steps in the origin and development of feathers, using the techniques of molecular biology. Their findings will have implications for the study of the morphogenesis of various epithelial organs-from hairs to lung tissue to mammary glands-and is already shedding light on the controversy over the evolution of dinosaur scales into avian feathers. Thu, 31 Oct 2002 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021031071204.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020815072053.htm Drs. Alan Feduccia and Julie Nowicki of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have opened a series of live ostrich eggs at various stages of development and found what they believe is proof that birds could not have descended from dinosaurs. They also discovered the first concrete evidence of a thumb in birds. Thu, 15 Aug 2002 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020815072053.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020214080242.htm The discovery and analysis of an early carnivorous dinosaur, Sinovenator changii, are clarifying the evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds, according to a paper to be published in Nature Feb. 14, 2002. Thu, 14 Feb 2002 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/02/020214080242.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/01/020130073659.htm Modern birds evolved from ground-dwelling reptiles as their increasingly refined parenting skills led them into the trees, where they could better protect their young, proposes a researcher at the University of California, Davis. Wed, 30 Jan 2002 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/01/020130073659.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010730081218.htm Dinosaurs grew more rapidly than their living reptilian relatives asserts FSU evolutionary biologist and paleontologist Gregory Erickson in an article to be published Thursday in Nature magazine. Tue, 31 Jul 2001 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/07/010730081218.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/04/010427072701.htm A team of Chinese and American scientists announced today in Nature the discovery of a remarkably preserved, 130-million-year-old fossil dinosaur covered from head to tail with downy fluff and primitive feathers. It is the first dinosaur found with its entire body covering intact, providing the best evidence yet that animals developed feathers for warmth before they could fly. Fri, 27 Apr 2001 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/04/010427072701.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010328075426.htm A 90-million-year-old tick recently found in the heart of New Jersey has left entomologists scratching their heads. The tick is the oldest representative of the order Parasitiformes, increasing the order's age by 50 million years, said Hans Klompen, an assistant professor of entomology at Ohio State University. Wed, 28 Mar 2001 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010328075426.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/01/010111074727.htm The discovery in Mongolia of the fossil of a new bird, Apsaravis ukhaana, that lived about 80 million years ago, sheds new light on the evolution of birds. The nearly complete specimen of the small pigeon-sized bird was found at the locality Ukhaa Tolgod in the Gobi Desert of Southern Mongolia as part of the ongoing joint expeditions of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Thu, 11 Jan 2001 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/01/010111074727.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/08/000810071719.htm The popular notion that birds evolved from dinosaurs has come under assault recently with the discovery of fossil evidence of a feathered reptile that pre-dates birds. Now a researcher at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington and a Japanese colleague have found similarities in bone structure suggesting that birds did, in fact, evolve from a group of dinosaurs. Thu, 10 Aug 2000 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/08/000810071719.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/06/000625231641.htm Scientists have announced the discovery of the oldest animal ever known to have feathers, which may have been the ancestor of birds but clearly was not a dinosaur - a discovery that calls into serious question many theories about an evolutionary link between dinosaurs and birds. Mon, 26 Jun 2000 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/06/000625231641.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/06/990617072348.htm Working together on fossilized remains, Chinese and U.S. researchers have discovered a previously unknown species of primitive bird, a finding that offers new evidence that early bird evolution was considerably more complex than previously believed. Thu, 17 Jun 1999 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/06/990617072348.htm