Skeleton of Nabaornis Hestia, an 80-million-year-old bird fossil
S. Abramowitz/Dinosaur Institute/Los Angeles County Natural History Museum
An 80-million-year-old fossil bird skull is so well preserved that scientists were able to study the detailed structure of its brain.
In both age and evolutionary development, new species Nabaornis Hestiae, It falls about halfway between the earliest known bird-like dinosaurs. ArcheopteryxBirds that lived 150 million years ago and modern birds. They lived along with dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period. tyrannosaurus and triceratops.
The fossil, which superficially resembles a pigeon, was discovered in 2016 near Presidente Prudente, Brazil, and quickly became important because of the rarity of complete bird skeletons, especially those from the same period. recognized as something.
but daniel field It wasn't until 2022 that Cambridge University professors realized that the skull was so intact that it could be scanned to create a 3D model of the brain.
High-resolution CT scans allow paleontologists to see inside fossils. “This involves careful 'digital dissection' – separating the individual components of the skull and reassembling them to create a complete, undistorted three-dimensional reconstruction,” Field said. says Mr.
“This new fossil provides unprecedented insight into the patterns and timing of the evolution of specialized brain functions in living birds.”
Professor Field said that based on the brains his team reconstructed, human cognitive and flight abilities: nabaornis It was probably inferior to most living birds.
Artist's impression of Nabaornis Hestia
J. D'Oliveira
The parts of the brain responsible for complex cognition and spatial awareness are not as enlarged as they are in modern birds, he says.
“It’s cerebral, but nabaornis greatly expanded compared to more archaic bird conditions such as . Archeopteryx, It is not as expanded as we see in living birds. ”
Professor Field said the enlarged brains of modern birds support a wide range of complex behaviors, but there is a lack of sufficiently complete and well-preserved fossil bird skulls from early bird relatives. This makes it difficult to understand how their brains evolved.
“nabaornis This fills an approximately 70 million-year gap in our understanding of how the distinctive brains of modern birds evolved. ”
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Source: www.newscientist.com
