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
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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
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Independent assembly of the flight apparatus in a non-avian dinosaur clade [PDF]
Nature CommunicationsThe discovery of feathered dinosaurs revolutionized the studies on the origin of birds and the evolution of their flight. Among paravians (birds and their closest relatives), the microraptorine dromaeosaurids are unique in bearing several flight-related ...
Xuri Wang +6 more
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Considerations on the taxonomy of Late Jurassic Avialae (Theropoda) from the Solnhofen Archipelago [PDF]
Fossil RecordThe iconic Archaeopteryx still represents the oldest known volant avialan, but its taxonomic history is complex. Several avialan specimens from the Solnhofen Archipelago have been variously assigned to distinct genera, most recently, the Haarlem and ...
Christian Foth, Oliver Rauhut
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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
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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
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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 +1 more
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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
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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
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An unusual bird (Theropoda, Avialae) from the Early Cretaceous of Japan suggests complex evolutionary history of basal birds [PDF]
Communications Biology, 2019 Takuya Imai, Soichiro Kawabe
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