Few subjects in evolutionary theory have posed such intriguing puzzles for so long as the origin of birds. Evidence of avian beginnings has been elusive in the fossil record because birds' light, ...

Researchers have discovered a 149-million-year-old bird fossil in southeastern China, featuring a short tail structure that could rewrite the evolutionary history of birds. As detailed in a study ...

(Reuters) - Scientists have unearthed in southeastern China the fossil of a quail-sized bird that lived about 150 million years ago during the Jurassic Period and possessed surprisingly modern traits, ...

The Fujianvenator had elongated lower legs that were twice as long as its thighs. The 150-million-year-old dinosaur is likely a very early bird ancestor, as old as the Archaeopterix. This suggests ...

Birds are the only dinosaur lineage that survived until today. About 66 million years ago at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary, a mass extinction event destroyed all non-avian dinosaurs, ...

1. Introduction to the morphology, development, and ecology of feathers -- 2. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of feather development provide a basis for diverse evolution of feather forms -- 3. The ...

The shared history of birds and dinosaurs is well-established, but exactly how true birds evolved during the Mesozoic is a bit of a mystery. Adding to this conundrum are fossilized footprints of ...

Evolutionary biologists at Johns Hopkins Medicine report they have combined PET scans of modern pigeons along with studies of dinosaur fossils to help answer an enduring question in biology: How did ...

Researchers in China have discovered a rare Jurassic bird fossil. The remains of the animal sheds light on the evolution of early birds.

An introduction to birds, the geological settings of their evolution, and the avian skeleton -- The origin of birds -- The Mesozoic flight way towards modern birds -- Mesozoic birds : ...