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Palaeontology

Ruffling feathers

Nature volume 410, pages 1036–1037 (2001)Cite this article

The evolution of feathers and flight were generally thought to be inextricably linked. But new fossils from China show that feathers pre-dated the origin of flight and of birds.

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Figure 1: Hypothesized stages I–III of feather evolution12.

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  1. Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, M5S 2C6, Ontario, Canada

    Hans-Dieter Sues

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Sues, HD. Ruffling feathers. Nature 410, 1036–1037 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35074225

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