When a baby bird's hip bone is a replica of a dinosaur's pelvis, it's time to hatch.
That is one of the findings of a new study in the journal Nature. It is a nod to the dramatic transformation that took place over tens of millions of years.
Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar is an assistant professor of Earth & planetary science at Yale. It's like it remembers it's a bird at the last minute.
The lab is known for its innovative use of computed tomographic scanning and microscopy to create 3D images of animal embryology.
The lead author of the study is a member of the research team. They looked at the development of alligators, domestic chickens, Japanese quail, and parakeets and compared it to that of dinosaurs.
For the study, the team labeled the hip bones with antibodies to look for the proteins that are expressed in the bone. The researchers used confocal microscopes and computed toms to create 3D images of the hip bones, muscles, and nerves.
Terminal addition is a biological mechanism in which ancestral features appear in an animal until late in its development. The bird's beak is one of the most important features in the transition from dinosaurs to birds.
The initial stages of bird development looked a lot like the hips of an early dinosaur. The developing embryo changes in a way that reflects how they changed in evolution, transitioning from looking like an early dinosaur to a modern bird.
A bird has a hip bone. The length of the frame allows a bird to stand, move, and carry the weight of its body.
The bird's body is modified in a number of ways to make it a flying machine. The body structures are tightly constrained.
The development of the hip was examined in the new study. The researchers said that each system was notcoupled from the others.
More information: Christopher T. Griffin et al, The developing bird pelvis passes through ancestral dinosaurian conditions, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04982-w Journal information: Nature
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