“The new fossil provides us with a unique glimpse into the anatomy of the wing of the birds that lived amongst a few of the largest dinosaurs”, says study co-author Luis Chiappe at the National History Museum of Los Angeles County. The exceptionally well preserved fossil found in limestone from the Lower Cretaceous period has an intricate arrangement of the muscles and ligaments that controlled the main feathers of the wing of an ancient bird – the oldest occurrence of connective tissue in association with flight feathers of birds. The physiological coordination between the muscular system seen in the newly found fossils and those that show characteristics of living parrots highly indicates that a few prehistoric birds were able of streamlined flight, just like the majority of living birds.
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Despite the fact that this fossil present in Spain does strengthen the argument that a few early birds might have been capable of fly as nicely, it’s nonetheless unknown as to how completed they had been at this feat and whether or not they had been in a position to fly excessive over the dinosaurs or might simply handle quick flights whereas being near the bottom.
That would support the notion that at least a few of the most ancient birds performed aerodynamic feats in a fashion similar to living birds.
Experts who discovered and studied the fossils said they were so amazed how the ancient bird looked very similar to creatures that we can find in forests.
“It is very surprising that despite being skeletally quite different from their modern counterparts, these primitive birds show striking similarities in their soft anatomy”, said lead author Guillermo Navalon from University of Bristol’s school of earth sciences. A few tens of millions of years later, prehistoric birds had wings that were already covered in feathers. The muscles lining the structure of the wing also support the thesis that prehistoric birds could fly.
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An evaluation of this fossilized wing of one of many primitive birds which is greater than a hundred twenty five-million years outdated could recommend that it was able to flying in a means that’s much like the trendy birds of as we speak in line with paleontologists. Extraordinary discoveries like this one are allowing researchers to analyze the most complex factors of the first steps in birds’ evolution.
