Evolutionary biologists at Johns Hopkins Medicine report they have combined PET scans of modern pigeons along with studies of dinosaur fossils to help answer an enduring question in biology: How did ...

Few subjects in evolutionary theory have posed such intriguing puzzles for so long as the origin of birds. Evidence of avian beginnings has been elusive in the fossil record because birds' light, ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Fossil discoveries unlock chapters of our planet’s storied ...

Flight is a rare skill in the animal world. Among vertebrates, it evolved only three times: in bats, birds, and the long-extinct pterosaurs. Pterosaurs were the pioneers, taking to the skies more than ...

Organisms evolve to adapt to the changing times. But it was unclear whether that evolution would be the same, if given a chance to do-over, as the path it has been followed in the past. New research ...

Genomic anamolies dating back to the time of the dinosaurs misled scientists about the evolutionary history of birds. An enormous meteor spelled doom for most dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But not ...

The fossil of a Jurassic bird unearthed in southeastern China has major implications for the history of avian evolution, researchers say. The newly discovered Baminornis zhenghensis, a quail-sized ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Group of Snow Geese in elegant flight against blue sky at Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge in New Mexico in winter. (Credit: ...