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Published online 5 November 2003 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news031103-7
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Birds get high on dinosaur breathing
Long history mooted for low-oxygen survival trick.
Birds may owe their ability to soar over mountaintops to flightless dinosaur ancestors who adapted to survive with less oxygen.
Between 275 million and 175 million years ago the atmosphere's oxygen content was probably much lower than today.
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