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A turning point came in the early twentieth century with the writings of Gerhard Heilmann of Denmark.An artist by trade, Heilmann had a scholarly interest in birds and from 1913 to 1916, expanding on earlier work by Othenio Abel, [12] published the results of his research in several parts, dealing with the anatomy, embryology, behavior, paleontology, and evolution of birds. [13]
The evolution of birds began in the Jurassic Period, with the earliest birds derived from a clade of theropod dinosaurs named Paraves. [1] Birds are categorized as a biological class, Aves. For more than a century, the small theropod dinosaur Archaeopteryx lithographica from the Late Jurassic period was considered to have been the earliest bird.
Several studies of feather development in the embryos of modern birds, coupled with the distribution of feather types among various prehistoric bird precursors, have allowed scientists to attempt a reconstruction of the sequence in which feathers first evolved and developed into the types found on modern birds. Feather evolution was broken down ...
Adding to this conundrum are fossilized footprints of bird-like tracks that are 210 million years old—a good 60 million years before the arrival of the genus Archaeopteryx, one of the oldest ...
Prior to their existence on birds, feathers were present on the bodies of many dinosaur species. Through natural selection, feathers became more common among the animals as their wings developed over the course of tens of millions of years. [6] The smooth surface of feathers on a bird's body helps to reduce friction while in flight.
The tail feathers are used to control flight acting as rudder and brake, only some of these feathers are as firmly attached as the bird's primaries. Contour feathers are arranged on the body of the bird in the manner of roof tiles. The tips of these feathers are waterproof and help protect the bird from the elements, while the inner parts of ...
“Feathers aren’t just a bird thing, or even just a dinosaur thing, but evolved deeper in time.” The 113-million-year-old fossil is preserved within four limestone slabs. The partial skull ...
Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings are formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. [9] Birds evolved flight much later. Their wings formed from elongated fingers and their arms, all covered with flight feathers.