Most bird wings are far from aerodynamically optimal, suggesting evolution often settles for “good enough” instead of perfect ...

Dinosaur origins: Birds evolved from small theropod dinosaurs, sharing traits like hollow bones, three-toed limbs, and feathers. Archaeopteryx link: The iconic transitional fossil shows both reptilian ...

Reconstruction of a Late Triassic landscape (approximately 215 million years ago). A lagerpetid, a close relative of pterosaurs, is perched on a rock, observing pterosaurs flying overhead. Tübingen, ...

An ancient archaeopteryx fossil is offering new insight into the early evolution of birds from dinosaurs. Dating back around 150 million years, this remarkable discovery is helping scientists ...

(CNN) — When a fossil preserves an animal’s complete body in a death pose, seeing it is observing a snapshot in time. Several such fossils exist for Archaeopteryx — the earliest known bird — and now, ...

Fossils reveal that prehistoric cicadas’ wings evolved to help them evade hungry predators with feathers and beaks, scientists say. By Jack Tamisiea Today, few critters are as abundant as cicadas.

An analysis of two theropod dinosaur fossils has shown that they had a type of carpal bone (pisiform) in their wrists—a bone considered important to flight in birds. This discovery by a team of ...

For years, the evolution of flight seemed fairly straightforward. Dinosaurs developed feathers, with some learning to glide, ...

Scientists with the Field Museum of Chicago have discovered that a pigeon-sized Archaeopteryx fossil in its collection displays an array of features previously unknown when it comes to the earliest ...