deconversionmovement:Shortening Tails Gave Early Birds a Leg UpAug. 13, 2013 — A radical short
deconversionmovement:Shortening Tails Gave Early Birds a Leg UpAug. 13, 2013 — A radical shortening of their bony tails over 100 million years ago enabled the earliest birds to develop versatile legs that gave them an evolutionary edge, a new study shows.A team led by Oxford University scientists examined fossils of the earliest birds from the Cretaceous Period, 145-66 million years ago, when early birds, such as Confuciusornis,Eoenantiornis, and Hongshanornis, lived alongside their dinosaur kin. At this point birds had already evolved powered flight, necessitating changes to their forelimbs, and the team investigated how this new lifestyle related to changes in their hind limbs (legs).Continue Reading -- source link