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 +17 more sources
Shifts in stability and control effectiveness during evolution of Paraves support aerial maneuvering hypotheses for flight origins [PDF]
PeerJ, 2014 The capacity for aerial maneuvering was likely a major influence on the evolution of flying animals. Here we evaluate consequences of paravian morphology for aerial performance by quantifying static stability and control effectiveness of physical models ...
Dennis Evangelista +6 more
doaj +8 more sources
The phylogenetic affinities and morphological peculiarities of the bird-like dinosaur Borogovia gracilicrus from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia [PDF]
PeerJ, 2021 Borogovia gracilicrus is a small-bodied theropod dinosaur from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) Nemegt Formation of southern Mongolia. The taxon is based on a single fragmentary specimen preserving only the distal part of the hindlimbs.
Andrea Cau, Daniel Madzia
doaj +3 more sources
Ultramicrostructural reductions in teeth: implications for dietary transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds [PDF]
BMC Evolutionary Biology, 2020 Background Tooth morphology within theropod dinosaurs has been extensively investigated and shows high disparity throughout the Cretaceous. Changes or diversification in feeding ecology, i.e., adoption of an herbivorous diet (e.g., granivorous), is ...
Zhiheng Li +8 more
doaj +2 more sources
High rates of evolution preceded the origin of birds. [PDF]
Evolution, 2014 The origin of birds (Aves) is one of the great evolutionary transitions. Fossils show that many unique morphological features of modern birds, such as feathers, reduction in body size, and the semilunate carpal, long preceded the origin of clade Aves ...
Puttick MN, Thomas GH, Benton MJ.
europepmc +3 more sources
A new paravian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America supports a late acquisition of avian flight [PDF]
PeerJ, 2019 The last two decades have seen a remarkable increase in the known diversity of basal avialans and their paravian relatives. The lack of resolution in the relationships of these groups combined with attributing the behavior of specialized taxa to the base
Scott Hartman +5 more
doaj +3 more sources
Diuqin lechiguanae gen. et sp. nov., a new unenlagiine (Theropoda: Paraves) from the Bajo de la Carpa Formation (Neuquén Group, Upper Cretaceous) of Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina [PDF]
BMC Ecology and EvolutionBackground Unenlagiine paravians are among the most relevant Gondwanan theropod dinosaur clades for understanding the origin of birds, yet their fossil record remains incomplete, with most taxa being represented by fragmentary material and/or separated ...
Juan D. Porfiri +5 more
doaj +2 more sources
The origin and evolution of air sacs in pterosaurs and their forerunners. [PDF]
J AnatPneumatized pterosauromorph vertebrae and their phylogenetic context. Abstract Although the existence of postcranial pneumaticity and the inferred presence of air sacs connected to the lungs are well established in Pterosauria, the origin of this system in pterosaurs remains unclear. We investigated skeletal pneumaticity in the Triassic pterosauromorph
Aureliano T +4 more
europepmc +2 more sources
Cancellous bone and theropod dinosaur locomotion. Part III-Inferring posture and locomotor biomechanics in extinct theropods, and its evolution on the line to birds. [PDF]
PeerJ, 2018 This paper is the last of a three-part series that investigates the architecture of cancellous bone in the main hindlimb bones of theropod dinosaurs, and uses cancellous bone architectural patterns to infer locomotor biomechanics in extinct non-avian ...
Bishop PJ +6 more
europepmc +5 more sources
Paravian Phylogeny and the Dinosaur-Bird Transition: An Overview [PDF]
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 L. Agnolin +10 more
doaj +3 more sources