Birds are dinosaurs' descendants, though paleontologists still don't know how this event happened.
A complete skeleton of a bird that lived in China around 120 million years ago might help clarify key steps in the transformation process, presenting with a more archaic, dinosaur-like head.
The body plan that is typical of today's birds is a result of the dramatic changes in shape, function, and environment that took place during the transition from dinosaurs to birds.
The way birds develop can still be seen. The nature of the evolutionary pressures that gave rise to strictly avian characteristics is still being debated.
Important insights into the evolution of modern birds may be provided by the newly found fossil.
The body print of a bird with a dinosaur head was found during excavations.
The fossils of feathered dinosaurs and early birds have been found in the region.
The scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences began their investigation of the fossil skull with high-resolution computed tomography scans.
The skull was reconstructed using the digital versions of the bones.
The shape of the skull is similar to that of a dinosaur and not a bird.
The braincase and lower jaw of living birds contribute to their enormous ecological diversity, as shown by the primitive cranial features.
Recent studies on the importance of evolutionary mosaicism in the early evolution of birds have been influenced by the combination of a dinosaur's skull and a bird's skeleton.
The long-tailed Archaeopteryx and the Ornithothoraces were both part of the family tree of birds.
The long scapula and first metatarsal are features that are rare in the fossils of other dino-ancestors to birds and are absent in modern birds.
As birds developed, evolutionary trends show shorter first metatarsals.
During the change from dinosaurs to birds, the first metatarsal went through a process of natural selection that shortened it. It lost its functions when it was less than a quarter of the length of the second metatarsal.
A member of a group of birds known as dromaeosaurid, the Late Cretaceous Balaur, has a unique feature that is more similar to an enlarged foot.
The scapular has been seen before in birds from the previous century.
The fact that it didn't have a breastbone made up for the fact that it didn't have a long scapula. It is possible that this extinct species contributed to a biological experiment.
Min Wang, one of the lead authors, explains that the differences in the flight apparatus of this early bird are related to volant behavior early in bird evolution.
The breadth of skeletal plasticity in early birds is highlighted by the Abnomal Morphologies of the scapula and metatarsals.
The evolution of birds of all feather occurred simultaneously along a wide variety of different paths, which is a sign of how all living things represent a series of small changes.
The research was published in a journal.
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