Shake a tail feather: the evolution of the theropod tail into a stiff aerodynamic surface. [PDF]
PLoS ONE, 2013 Theropod dinosaurs show striking morphological and functional tail variation; e.g., a long, robust, basal theropod tail used for counterbalance, or a short, modern avian tail used as an aerodynamic surface.
Michael Pittman +4 more
doaj +12 more sources
Maaqwi cascadensis: A large, marine diving bird (Avialae: Ornithurae) from the Upper Cretaceous of British Columbia, Canada. [PDF]
PLoS ONE, 2017 Mesozoic bird fossils from the Pacific Coast of North America are rare, but small numbers are known from the Late Cretaceous aged sediments of Hornby Island, British Columbia.
Sandy M S McLachlan +2 more
doaj +5 more sources
Macroevolutionary dynamics of dentition in Mesozoic birds reveal no long-term selection towards tooth loss [PDF]
iScience, 2021 Summary: Several potential drivers of avian tooth loss have been proposed, although consensus remains elusive as fully toothless jaws arose independently numerous times among Mesozoic avialans and dinosaurs more broadly.
Neil Brocklehurst, Daniel J. Field
doaj +2 more sources
On the Morphological Description of Tracheal and Esophageal Displacement and Its Phylogenetic Distribution in Avialae. [PDF]
PLoS ONE, 2016 This research examines the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of a peculiar and often overlooked character seen in birds, herein called tracheal and esophageal displacement.
Jeremy J Klingler
doaj +4 more sources
Novel neuroanatomical integration and scaling define avian brain shape evolution and development [PDF]
eLife, 2021 How do large and unique brains evolve? Historically, comparative neuroanatomical studies have attributed the evolutionary genesis of highly encephalized brains to deviations along, as well as from, conserved scaling relationships among brain regions ...
Akinobu Watanabe +4 more
doaj +2 more sources
Preservação Excepcional de Biomateriais Não Mineralizados em Fósseis do Clado Avialae [PDF]
Anuário do Instituto de Geociências, 2021 Milhares de fosseis de aves primitivas e diversificadasda Era Mesozoica e Cenozoica tem sido descobertos ao redor do mundo. Destes, centenas de estudos encontraram preservacao excepcional de biomateriais mineralizados, permitindo ampliar o conhecimento acerca da sua ecologia e evolucao.
Everton Fernando Alves +1 more
openaire +4 more sources
PLoS ONE, 2019 Birds and pterosaurs have pneumatic bones, a feature likely related to their flight capabilities but whose evolution and origin is still poorly understood.
Richard Buchmann +2 more
doaj +4 more sources
An unusual bird (Theropoda, Avialae) from the Early Cretaceous of Japan suggests complex evolutionary history of basal birds. [PDF]
Commun Biol, 2019 AbstractThe Early Cretaceous basal birds were known largely from just two-dimensionally preserved specimens from north-eastern China (Jehol Biota), which has hindered our understanding of the early evolution of birds. Here, we present a three-dimensionally-preserved skeleton (FPDM-V-9769) of a basal bird from the Early Cretaceous of Fukui, central ...
Imai T +6 more
europepmc +4 more sources
The phylogenetic affinities of the bizarre Late Cretaceous Romanian theropod Balaur bondoc (Dinosauria, Maniraptora): dromaeosaurid or flightless bird? [PDF]
PeerJ, 2015 The exceptionally well-preserved Romanian dinosaur Balaur bondoc is the most complete theropod known to date from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe. Previous studies of this remarkable taxon have included its phylogenetic interpretation as an aberrant ...
Andrea Cau, Tom Brougham, Darren Naish
doaj +2 more sources
A new ornithurine from the Early Cretaceous of China sheds light on the evolution of early ecological and cranial diversity in birds [PDF]
PeerJ, 2016 Despite the increasing number of exceptional feathered fossils discovered in the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous of northeastern China, representatives of Ornithurae, a clade that includes comparatively-close relatives of crown clade Aves (extant birds) and
Jiandong Huang +5 more
doaj +2 more sources