PARIS: A group of international researchers found that most ancient birds likely had flight abilities similar to that of modern-day birds. By studying a wing fossil that is said to be 125 million years old, experts were given a fresh insight.
The history of bird evolution is a significantly long one. Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago, is one of the earliest species. Although the avian evolution has been the subject of interest by experts for so long, scientific controversies still envelope the flying capabilities of ancient birds, including the quality of flight should it had existed.
To investigate deeper, researchers from the University of Bristol, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and U.S. National History Museum, examined a 125-million-year-old bird fossil collected from central Spain.
Aside from exhibiting articulated bone structures of the forelimbs, the fossils also had rich remains of the plumage and wing’s soft tissues.
The fossils particularly shows a detailed arrangement of fibres, which anatomically parallels the modern birds’ perplex system of ligaments, tendons and muscles. To enable the birds to fly successfully, the said system guarantees the positioning and regulates the intricate adaptations of the wing’s primary feathers.
With the discovery that the ancient birds also possessed such features, the premise that the species were also able to perform aerodynamic capabilities similar to today’s living birds were supported well.
Tesla driverless system to use updated radar technology
WASHINGTON: Electric carmaker Tesla announced Sunday it was upgrading its Autopilot software to use more advanced radar technology. In a...
