‘Strange bird’ specimen might have looked like any other bird 120 million years ago — until it opened its mouth

A peculiar fossil has helped scientists discover an unusual bird that lived among the dinosaurs 120 million years ago, and the find is changing the way researchers think about avian evolution. The previously unknown species has been named Imparavis attenboroughi, which means “Attenborough’s strange bird” in Latin in honor of British naturalist Sir David Attenborough. All birds descended from dinosaurs, and some of the earliest ones resembled them.

While modern birds have fused forelimb digits, enantiornithines still had independent movement in the “little fingers” on their wings. “Most of the ‘hand’ would be encased in tissue to help form the wing, but the little claws might have been used to manipulate food, aid in climbing, or other yet-not-thought-of behaviors,” Clark said. The mysteries of avian evolution Clark and his colleagues can’t say for sure what kind of foods Imparavis ate or exactly why it was toothless.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

First surge of 120 CHP officers to Oakland now over, yields 71 arrestsThe initial deployment of 120 California Highway Patrol officers to Oakland and the East Bay in a blitz to fight surging crime ended after five days, KTVU has learned.
Source: KTVU - 🏆 465. / 53 Read more »

NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex nabbed over 120 grams of space rocks from asteroid BennuAfter being stymied by two stuck screws, NASA finally accessed a trove of Bennu asteroid bits. Mission scientist Harold Connolly tells what’s next.
Source: ScienceNews - 🏆 286. / 63 Read more »

Kevin Durant scores 35, Grayson Allen adds 26 as Suns beat the Raptors 120-113Kevin Durant scored 35 points, Grayson Allen added 26 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Toronto Raptors 120-113 on Thursday night.
Source: FOX10Phoenix - 🏆 83. / 68 Read more »

This Electric Flying Car Could Take You to Work Next Year—and Then Fit in Your GarageDoroni’s H1X should help you beat traffic with a 120 mph top speed.
Source: RobbReport - 🏆 309. / 63 Read more »

ADA and Satoshi: Cardano Founder Reacts to Intriguing Correlation TweetSatoshi's earliest collaborator recently revealed 120 pages of email correspondences
Source: Utoday_en - 🏆 295. / 63 Read more »

Fairbanks history in a hardware storeFor 120 years, Samson Hardware has played a role in Fairbanks history.
Source: KXDF News 13 - 🏆 266. / 63 Read more »