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Evolutionary insights from an ancient bird

Ichthyornis dispar is a key extinct bird species from when birds were shedding characteristics of their dinosaur ancestors and evolving their current features. A reconstructed skull of I. dispar now illuminates this transition.
  1. Kevin Padian

    1. Kevin Padian is in the Department of Integrative Biology and the Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.

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The distinctive features of birds, from beaks to feathers, provide a stark separation between avians and other animal groups. But how did the features of the bird skull evolve? In a paper in Nature, Field et al.1 present a computerized reconstruction of the skull of a pivotal early bird that brings avian evolution into sharper focus.

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Nature 557, 36-37 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-04780-3

References

  1. Field, D. J. et al. Nature 557, 96–100 (2018).

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