Related topics: birds · dinosaurs

Mummified parrots point to trade in the ancient Atacama desert

Ancient Egyptians mummified cats, dogs, ibises and other animals, but closer to home in the South American Atacama desert, parrot mummies reveal that between 1100 and 1450 CE, trade from other areas brought parrots and macaws ...

Lasers flesh out dino-bird profile

A chicken-sized, feathered dinosaur that scuttled around Earth 160 million years ago is helping flesh out the missing link between land-bound animals and flying ones, scientists said Tuesday.

Iridescence found in 40-million-year-old fossil bird feather

Known for their wide variety of vibrant plumage, birds have evolved various chemical and physical mechanisms to produce these beautiful colors over millions of years. A team of paleontologists and ornithologists led by Yale ...

Famed fossil isn't a bird after all, analysis says

(AP) -- One of the world's most famous fossil creatures, widely considered the earliest known bird, is getting a rude present on the 150th birthday of its discovery: A new analysis suggests it isn't a bird at all.

Best evidence yet that dinosaurs used feathers for courtship

A University of Alberta researcher's examination of fossilized dinosaur tail bones has led to a breakthrough finding: some feathered dinosaurs used tail plumage to attract mates, much like modern-day peacocks and turkeys.

Feathers show their true colors

(Phys.org) -- For millennia birds have been prized, even hunted, for their beautiful plumage but what makes their feathers so colorful?

Feathers too weak for early bird flight

(PhysOrg.com) -- The evolution of flight took longer than previously thought with the ancestors of modern birds “rubbish” at flying, if they flew at all, according to a Manchester scientist.

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