Birds can fly—at least, most of them can. Flightless birds like penguins and ostriches have evolved lifestyles that don't require flight. However, there's a lot that scientists don't know about how the wings and feathers ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Feb 12, 2024
0
124
In humans, nodding off for a few seconds is a clear sign of insufficient sleep—and can be dangerous in some situations, such as when driving a car.
Plants & Animals
Nov 30, 2023
0
65
A team of paleontologists at Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, working with a colleague from LA. TE. Andes S.A, has found the first known well-preserved Phorusrhacidae footprints at a site in Argentina. In their paper published ...
Many native animals that disperse plant seeds on the island of Mauritius have gone extinct during the past centuries. This includes iconic species such as the dodo and giant tortoises, now replaced by non-native fruit-eating ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 13, 2023
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49
Modern birds capable of flight all have a specialized wing structure called the propatagium without which they could not fly. The evolutionary origin of this structure has remained a mystery, but new research suggests it ...
Evolution
Feb 24, 2023
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1140
Big bones from the extinct "thunder bird" or dromornithid, excavated in the northern reaches of the Flinders Ranges and near Alice Springs, have yielded new insights into their slow breeding patterns.
Evolution
Aug 23, 2022
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839
There are roughly 50 billion individual birds in the world, a new big data study by UNSW Sydney suggests—about six birds for every human on the planet.
Ecology
May 17, 2021
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107
The rapid extinction of giant animals including wombat-like creatures as big as cars, birds more than two meters tall, and lizards more than seven meters long that once roamed the Australian continent is a puzzle that has ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 13, 2021
2
296
A team of evolutionary biologists, led by Dr. Rui Diogo at Howard University, and writing in the journal Development, have demonstrated that numerous atavistic limb muscles—known to be present in many limbed animals but ...
Evolution
Oct 1, 2019
6
572
Weka are often portrayed as little more than sandwich-stealing scallywags. The large, brown flightless bird's tendency to be curious and gobble any food available (whether it be an unwatched biscuit, penguin egg or endangered ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 11, 2019
0
14
