Showing 20 articles starting at article 461
Categories: Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds, Space: Cosmology
Published Flightless bird species at risk of extinction


Bird species that have lost the ability to fly through evolution have become extinct more often than birds that have retained their ability to fly, according to new research.
Published Ancient blanket made with 11,500 turkey feathers


New research sheds light on the production of an 800-year-old turkey feather blanket and explores the economic and cultural aspects of raising turkeys to supply feathers in the ancient Southwest.
Published Henderson island fossils reveal new Polynesian sandpiper species


Fossil bones collected in the early 1990s on Henderson Island, part of the Pitcairn Group, have revealed a new species of Polynesian sandpiper. The Henderson Sandpiper, a small wading bird that has been extinct for centuries, is formally named Prosobonia sauli after Cook Islands-based ornithologist and conservationist Edward K Saul.
Published New genome alignment tool empowers large-scale studies of vertebrate evolution



Three new articles present major advances in understanding the evolution of birds and mammals, made possible by new methods for comparing the genomes of hundreds of species. Researchers developed a powerful new genome alignment method that has made the new studies possible, including the largest genome alignment ever achieved of more than 600 vertebrate genomes.
Published Giant lizards learnt to fly over millions of years



Most detailed every study into how animals evolve to better suit their environments shows that pterosaurs become more efficient at flying over millions of years before going extinct with the dinosaurs.