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Archaeopteryx remains a key link in dinosaur-bird evolution, but maybe it wasn't all that unique.
These proto-birds may have evolved just like their modern relatives.
The remarkably well preserved fossil of a wing that belonged to an early Cretaceous bird suggests some of the first avian creatures could fly. The remains were unearthed from a limestone site in Spain, and exhibit features reminiscent of modern birds like intricate arrangement of muscles, tendons and ligaments. This soft tissue system is excellent for controlling position and allows rapid adjustment of the wing to navigate through the air.
The fossil, which still retains impressions of feathers, is 160 million years old, predating the oldest Archaeopterix fossil found by 10 million years. Scientits have named it Aurornis, which means “dawn bird”. Aurornis and Archaeopteryx Aurornis enables us not only to better understand the emergence of birds, but also to understand how powerful flight originated. […]
Today’s birds’ ancestors descended from non-avian dinosaurs according to a recent paper that thoroughly studied Anchiornis (155 million years ago) and Archaeopteryx (between 152 million and 168 million years ago) – the oldest known feathered dinosaurs. Archaeopteryx is so far the oldest bird-like dinosaur found thus far, and since it was first discovered almost 150 years ago, it was thought that […]
In a paper published in the journal Nature, Chinese paleontologists have detailed their impressions on the finding of a chicken-sized feathered dinosaur which might lead to a total reconsideration of the origin of birds on Earth. In 1861, just two years after Darwin published his infamous Origin of Species, scientists unearthed the fossils of Archaeopteryx, […]
An international team of researchers from the University of Leicester (UK), and the Geological Institute, Beijing (China) managed to identify a new type of a flying reptile that can prove to be a crucial step in understanding evolution, or at least a big part of it. Pterosauria was the general name given for flying or […]
How the dinosaurs appeared is clear, but it’s not so clear how they dissapeared. One thing’s for sure, they ruled this planet for a significant amount of time. But how much truth is behind this avalanche of publicity and fiction, and which dinosaurs are the true leaders of these amazing lizards?? Here’s just a small […]
Archaeopteryx has been the subject of many controversies, but it is now widely considered as the world’s oldest bird; however, reptiles were flying for 50 million years when it appeared, even before the world was roamed by dinosaurs. Now, paleontologists have unveiled an extraordinary prehistoric ‘flying’ reptile which lived 235 million years ago.It’s called kuehneosaurs […]