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.
Nicholas R Longrich, Sandy Mclachlan
exaly +6 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 Klingler
exaly +5 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.
Taissa Rodrigues +2 more
exaly +5 more sources
An unusual bird (Theropoda, Avialae) from the Early Cretaceous of Japan suggests complex evolutionary history of basal birds [PDF]
Communications Biology, 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 ...
exaly +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
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
MORPHOLOGY, PHYLOGENETIC TAXONOMY, AND SYSTEMATICS OF ICHTHYORNIS AND APATORNIS (AVIALAE: ORNITHURAE) [PDF]
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2004 Abstract Charles Darwin commented that Ichthyornis, as one of the “toothed birds” from the Late Cretaceous of Kansas, offered some of “the best support to the theory of evolution” (in litt., C. Darwin to O.C. Marsh, August 31, 1880). Ichthyornis figures no less prominently today.
exaly +3 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 +3 more sources
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 +2 more sources
Paravian Phylogeny and the Dinosaur-Bird Transition: An Overview
Frontiers in Earth Science, 2019 Recent years witnessed the discovery of a great diversity of early birds as well as closely related non-avian theropods, which modified previous conceptions about the origin of birds and their flight. We here present a review of the taxonomic composition
Federico Agnolin +2 more
exaly +3 more sources