There is a dearth of well-preserved fossils from the early stages of avian evolution. The fragility of bird bones makes their fossils uncommon. This skull was three-dimensionally preserved, rather than crushed flat like many fossils. The fossil, which included 80% of the bird's skeleton, indicated it was a competent flier.

Birds descended from the dinosaurs, but researchers have known relatively little about how the bird's brain took shape over millions of years. A new fossil sheds light on that mystery.

Palaeontologists have pieced together the brain structure of a bird that lived 80 million years ago named Navaornis hestiae, thanks to a remarkably well-preserved fossil

A research team used state-of-the-art micro-CT scanning technology to reconstruct the bird’s skull and brain in remarkable detail. The post Prehistoric ‘bird brain’ fossil reveals evolution of avian intelligence appeared first on Talker.