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 Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:05:01 EST Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:05:01 EST 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/2009/11/091118092633.htm The evolutionary history of New Zealand's many extinct flightless moa has been re-written in the first comprehensive study of more than 260 sub-fossil specimens to combine all known genetic, anatomical, geological and ecological information about the unique bird lineage. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118092633.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091009090436.htm The raptor-like Archaeopteryx has long been viewed as the archetypal first bird, but new research reveals that it was actually a lot less "bird-like" than scientists had believed. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091009090436.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006135109.htm A new investigation of a fossilized tracksite in southern Africa shows how early dinosaurs made on-the-fly adjustments to their movements to cope with slippery and sloping terrain. Differences in how early dinosaurs made these adjustments provide insight into the later evolution of the group. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006135109.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929133117.htm When pondering the demise of a famous dinosaur such as 'Sue,' the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex whose fossilized remains are a star attraction of the Field Museum in Chicago, it is hard to avoid the image of clashing Cretaceous titans engaged in bloody, mortal combat. But a new study provides evidence that Sue, perhaps the most famous dinosaur in the world, was felled in more mundane fashion by a lowly parasite that still afflicts modern birds. Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929133117.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928205415.htm A fossil of a bird-like dinosaur with four wings has been discovered in northeastern China. The specimen bridges a critical gap in the transition from dinosaurs to birds, and reveals new insights into the origin evolution of feathers. Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090928205415.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090729092536.htm Mammals and many species of birds and fish are among "evolution's winners," while crocodiles, alligators and a reptile cousin of snakes known as the tuatara are among its losers, according to a new study. The study also shows new species emerge nearly as often as they die off. Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090729092536.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630215938.htm Scientists have performed the first DNA-based reconstruction of the giant extinct moa bird, using prehistoric feathers recovered from caves and rock shelters in New Zealand. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630215938.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617171816.htm Scientists have discovered a unique beaked, plant-eating dinosaur in China. The finding, they say, demonstrates that theropod, or bird-footed, dinosaurs were more ecologically diverse in the Jurassic period than previously thought, and offers important evidence about how the three-fingered hand of birds evolved from the hand of dinosaurs. Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617171816.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609092055.htm Researchers have made a fundamental new discovery about how birds breathe and have a lung capacity that allows for flight -- and the finding means it's unlikely that birds descended from any known theropod dinosaurs. Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609092055.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090319165141.htm Biologists are providing new insights on the evolution of winged flight. The scientists observed how arboreal bristletails -- evolutionary precursors to insects -- in the Amazon Forest can leap tree trunk to tree trunk by manipulating a filament on their bodies as a primitive rudder system. Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090319165141.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090224221802.htm A major new theory for the evolution of flight is changing textbooks around the world. It involves wing-assisted incline running and a fundamental bird wing angle. One of the scientists who led the discover describes his research. Using high-speed cameras, he analyzed how birds change the angle of their wings as they gain altitude, glide, descend or run up steep surfaces. Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090224221802.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090215151858.htm Researchers are using powerful X-rays to find elemental traces of dinosaur tissue next to fossilized bones. Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090215151858.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090217212305.htm In the Mesozoic Era, 70 million years before birds first conquered the skies, pterosaurs dominated the air with sparrow- to Cessna-sized wingspans. Researchers suspected that these extinct reptiles sustained flight through flapping, based on fossil evidence from the wings, but had little understanding of how pterosaurs met the energetic demands of active flight. Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090217212305.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090127165505.htm The Cretaceous--Tertiary mass extinction 65 million years ago may have wiped out the dinosaurs, but those that survived -- the ancestors of today's birds -- may have done so because of their bird brains. Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090127165505.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090126173719.htm New molecular research shows that white eye birds (family Zosteropidae) form new species at a faster rate than any other known bird. Remarkably, unlike other rapid diversifications, which are generally confined in geography, white eyes diversified across multiple continents and far-flung islands. These birds were dubbed "Great Speciators" for this ability to rapidly form new species with little geographic limitation, and both thought that some intrinsic trait drove the extreme, observed patterns. Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090126173719.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113201350.htm The earliest known bird, the magpie-sized Archaeopteryx, had a similar hearing range to the modern emu, which suggests that the 145 million-year-old creature -- despite its reptilian teeth and long tail -- was more birdlike than reptilian. Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090113201350.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090106161514.htm Pterosaurs have long suffered an identity crisis. Pop culture heedlessly -- and wrongly -- lumps these extinct flying lizards in with dinosaurs. Even paleontologists assumed that because the creatures flew, they were birdlike in many ways, such as using only two legs to take flight. Wed, 07 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090106161514.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081013140010.htm Paleontologists and aeronautical engineers have developed a 30-inch robotic spy plane modeled after a 225 million-year-old pterodactyl. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081013140010.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081003122715.htm The latest breakthrough in a 120 year-old debate on the evolution of the bird wing was just published. Bird wings only have three fingers, having evolved from remote ancestors that, like humans and most reptiles, had five fingers. Biologists have typically used embryology to identify the evolutionary origin (homology) of structures; the three fingers of the bird wing develop from cartilage condensations that are found in the same positions in the embryo as fingers two, three and four of humans (the index, middle and ring fingers). However, the morphology of the fingers of early birds such as Archaeopteryx corresponds to that of fingers one, two and three in other reptiles (thumb, index and middle finger). Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081003122715.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080929212931.htm The remains of a 30-foot-long predatory dinosaur discovered along the banks of Argentina's Rio Colorado is helping to unravel how birds evolved their unusual breathing system. Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080929212931.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080926143908.htm A 50 million year old skull reveals that huge birds with a 5 meter wingspan once skimmed across the waters that covered what is now London, Essex and Kent. These giant ocean-going relatives of ducks and geese also had a rather bizarre attribute for a bird: their beaks were lined with bony-teeth. Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080926143908.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080923104414.htm An unusual breed of dinosaur that was the size of a chicken, ran on two legs and scoured the ancient forest floor for termites is the smallest dinosaur species found in North America, according to a researcher who analyzed bones found during the excavation of an ancient bone bed near Red Deer, Alberta, in 2002. Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080923104414.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172152.htm Large flightless birds of the southern continents -- African ostriches, Australian emus and cassowaries, South American rheas and the New Zealand kiwi -- do not share a common flightless ancestor as once believed. Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903172152.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708182536.htm The traces of organic material found in fossil feathers are remnants of pigments that once gave birds their color, according to Yale scientists whose paper in Biology Letters opens up the potential to depict the original coloration of fossilized birds and their ancestors, the dinosaurs. Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708182536.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626141117.htm The largest ever study of bird genetics redraws the avian evolutionary tree, challenges current classifications, alters our understanding of avian evolution, and provides a resource for future studies. Early Bird, centered at the Field Museum, examined DNA from all major living bird groups. Scientists built and analyzed a dataset of more than 32 kilobases of nuclear DNA sequences from 19 locations on the DNA of each of 169 species -- equivalent to a small genome project. Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626141117.htm 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/2006/12/061220095421.htm The giant dinosaurs had a problem. Many of them had narrow, pointed teeth, which were more suited to tearing off plants rather than chewing them. But how did they then grind their food? Until recently many researchers have assumed that they were helped by stones which they swallowed. In their muscular stomach these then acted as a kind of "gastric mill." But this assumption does not seem to be correct, as scientists at the universities of Bonn and Tübingen have now proved. Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061220095421.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