Bird skulls evolved surprisingly slowly
It’s quite remarkable that emus, pelicans, hummingbirds, hawks and woodpeckers are all part of the same class of animals given their broad diversity, including the shape and size of their skulls.
As the only dinosaurs to survive the last mass extinction 66 million years ago, it’s theorised that birds’ success resulted from a sudden surge in their skull’s evolution – but the reality was quite the opposite, according to a study published in the journal PLOS Biology.
Published by Cosmos.
