A Tiny Dinosaur Bone Just Rewrote the Origin of Bird Flight

A tiny dinosaur bone just rewrote the origin of bird flight

A tiny, overlooked wrist bone called the pisiform may have played a pivotal role in bird flight and it turns out it evolved far earlier than scientists thought. Fossils from bird-like dinosaurs in Mongolia reveal that this bone, once thought to vanish and reappear, was actually hiding in plain sight. Thanks to pristine preservation and 3D scans, researchers connected the dots between ancient theropods and modern birds, uncovering a deeper, more …

This Tiny Dinosaur Wrist Bone Could Rewrite the Origins of Flight

A pivotal wrist bone in birds appears earlier in theropods. This could shift views on how flight evolved. An analysis of two theropod dinosaur fossils reveals they possessed a type of wrist bone that is considered essential for flight in birds. This discovery by a team of researchers led by James Napoli, from the Department [...]