Wings may be the obvious choice when studying the connection between dinosaurs and birds, but a pair of Yale paleontologists prefer drumsticks. That part of the leg, they say, is where fibular ...

An enlarged sternum with a prominent keel is a central feature of the flight apparatus of modern birds. However, sterna of near-bird dinosaurs (Pennaraptora) and early avialans are either ...

ANN ARBOR—Shortly after an asteroid slammed into Earth 66 million years ago, life for non-avian dinosaurs ended, but the evolutionary story for the early ancestors of birds began. The fossil record ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Fossil discoveries unlock chapters of our planet’s storied ...

Genomic anamolies dating back to the time of the dinosaurs misled scientists about the evolutionary history of birds. An enormous meteor spelled doom for most dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But not ...

Imagine zooming out on a giant family tree that includes every bird you have ever seen. Ostriches sprint across open plains, hummingbirds hover at flowers, penguins slice through cold seas, and eagles ...

New cutting-edge research, led by Academy Professor Otso Ovaskainen of the University of Jyväskylä and David Dunson at Duke University, combines citizen bird observations with artificial intelligence ...

(CN) — Birds didn’t just inherit their dinosaur lineage — they rewired it. That’s according to researchers in a study that say as their brains grew, birds’ skulls became more flexible, unlocking new ...

Several ecogeographical ‘rules’ have been proposed to explain colour variation at broad spatial and phylogenetic scales but these rarely consider whether colours are based on pigments or structural ...