Hey, folks, it’s Kyle, filling in for Greg, who’s been away for the next few weeks on parental leave. While he’s spending time with his beautiful, healthy newborn (what better gift for the holidays, huh?), I’m learning the ropes from Week in Review to make sure you all stay up to date with the latest …
We can say with confidence that birds are descendants of dinosaurs, although paleontologists are still puzzled as to how this incredible evolutionary event happened. Now, a complete fossilized skeleton of a bird that lived in what is now China around 120 million years ago could help clarify key stages in the transformation process, showing up …
This ancient creature is a bizarre hybrid of dinosaur and bird Read More »
Fig. 1. Photograph of the 120 million year old Cratonavis zhui bird. 1 credit It is now widely believed that birds descended from dinosaurs. It is also understood that this transition encompasses some of the most dramatic morphological, functional and ecological transformations, thus ultimately giving rise to the characteristic body plan of the bird. However, …
Strange bird from China’s Cretaceous shows evolutionarily decoupled skull and body Read More »
Fossil experts have primed the goose for a key tenet of avian evolution after finding a premodern bird from over 65 million years ago that could move its beak like modern fowl. The toothy animal was discovered in the 1990s by an amateur fossil collector at a quarry in Belgium and dates to around 66.7 …
CT Scans of Toothed Bird Fossil Lead to Breathtaking Discovery Read More »
