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Palaeontology

Inside the oldest bird brain

Did Archaeopteryx, the most primitive known bird, have ‘the right stuff’? Looking into its skull with advanced technology provides insight into the dinosaurian transition to birds, and the evolution of flight.

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Figure 1: Iconic Archaeopteryx.

K. A. VON ZITTEL

Figure 2: Bird brain?

P. DOMÍNGUEZ ALONSO

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Witmer, L. Inside the oldest bird brain. Nature 430, 619–620 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/430619a

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