If feathers did not evolve first for flight, what other advantage could they have provided the creatures that had them? Some ...

For centuries, scientists have observed that animals in warmer climates have longer limbs—a pattern known as Allen's Rule. Long attributed to the need to maintain body temperature, the precise ...

Bird physiology is conducive to flight: small size, hollow bones, and generally symmetrical feathers on the wings and tail. It seems like a no-brainer that bird evolution was optimized for flight, but ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – New Cornell University research has found that, unlike birds, the evolution of bats’ wings and legs is tightly coupled, which may have prevented them from filling as many ecological ...

Even the giant wings of the albatross are not "optimally" shaped for their extraordinary long-distance migrations, according to new University of Bristol research. The study, published in Nature ...

A team of paleobiologists and zoologists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Linyi University and Wageningen University has found evidence that the evolution of insect-eating birds likely drove ...

An ancient archaeopteryx fossil is offering new insight into the early evolution of birds from dinosaurs. Dating back around 150 million years, this remarkable discovery is helping scientists ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Fossil discoveries unlock chapters of our planet’s storied ...

It has taken more than 20 years to extract, assemble and interpret a mysterious find from a famed marble quarry about 50 miles north of Milan, Italy. Now, with the investigation finally complete, ...