Our understanding of the earliest stages of crown bird evolution is hindered by an
exceedingly sparse avian fossil record from the Mesozoic era. The most ancient …

The bony palate diagnoses the two deepest clades of extant birds: Neognathae and
Palaeognathae,,,–. Neognaths exhibit unfused palate bones and generally kinetic skulls …

Despite the discoveries of well-preserved Mesozoic birds,,,,, a key part of avian evolution,
close to the radiation of all living birds (Aves), remains poorly represented. Here we report …

The recent discovery of small paravian theropod dinosaurs with well-preserved feathers in
the Middle–Late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of Liaoning Province (northeastern China) …

AVIAN flight is one of the most remarkable achievements of vertebrate evolution, yet there is
little evidence of its early phases. Specimens of Archaeopteryx shed important (albeit …

Mesozoic birds display considerable diversity in size, flight adaptations and feather
organization,,–, but exhibit relatively conserved patterns of beak shape and development …

WE report the discovery of two exquisitely preserved specimens of a new, very primitive bird
from the Late Cretaceous period of Madagascar. The new taxon, Vorona berivotrensis, is …

The two groups of archosaurs, crocodilians and birds, form an extant phylogenetic bracket
for understanding the reproductive behaviour of dinosaurs. This behaviour is inferred from …

DISCOVERY of avian remains close to the age of Archaeopteryx in the Liaoning Province of
northeastern China provides the earliest evidence for a beaked, edentulous bird. The …

Current controversy over the origin and early evolution of birds centres on whether or not
they are derived from coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs. Here we describe two theropods …