Interesting discovery of a bird skull reveals the intermediate brain evolution between bird like dinosaurs and modern birds, The evolution of the brain of modern birds took millions of years “Modern birds have some of the most advanced cognitive capabilities in the animal kingdom, comparable only with mammals,”
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The researchers say their discovery, reported in the journal Nature, could be a sort of ‘Rosetta Stone’ for determining the evolutionary origins of the modern avian brain. The fossil fills a 70-million-year gap in our understanding of how the brains of birds evolved: between the 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx, the earliest known bird-like dinosaur, and birds living today.
Navaornis had a larger cerebrum than Archaeopteryx, suggesting it had more advanced cognitive capabilities than the earliest bird-like dinosaurs. However, most areas of its brain, like the cerebellum, were less developed, suggesting that it hadn’t yet evolved the complex flight control mechanisms of modern birds.
“The brain structure of Navaornis is almost exactly intermediate between Archaeopteryx and modern birds – it was one of these moments in which the missing piece fits absolutely perfectly,” said co-lead author Dr Guillermo Navalón from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences.
L-R: Archaeopteryx, Navaornis and Tangara seledon (a modern bird). Credit: Júlia d’Oliveira
Navaornis is named after William Nava, director of the Museu de Paleontologia de Marília in Brazil’s São Paolo State, who discovered the fossil in 2016 at a site in the neighbouring locality of Presidente Prudente. Tens of millions of years ago, this site was likely a dry area with slow-flowing creeks, which enabled the fossil’s exquisite preservation. This preservation allowed the researchers to use advanced micro-CT scanning technology to reconstruct the bird’s skull and brain in remarkable detail.
“This fossil is truly so one-of-a-kind that I was awestruck from the moment I first saw it to the moment I finished assembling all the skull bones and the brain, which lets us fully appreciate the anatomy of this early bird,” said Navalón.
“Modern birds have some of the most advanced cognitive capabilities in the animal kingdom, comparable only with mammals,” said Professor Daniel Field from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences, senior author of the research. “But scientists have struggled to understand how and when the unique brains and remarkable intelligence of birds evolved—the field has been awaiting the discovery of a fossil exactly like this one.”
Bird brain from the age of dinosaurs reveals roots of avian intelligence
A ‘one of a kind’ fossil discovery could transform our understanding of how the unique brains and intelligence of modern birds evolved, one of the most enduring mysteries of vertebrate evolution.
Bird brain from the age of dinosaurs reveals roots of avian intelligence
The researchers say their discovery, reported in the journal Nature, could be a sort of ‘Rosetta Stone’ for determining the evolutionary origins of the modern avian brain. The fossil fills a 70-million-year gap in our understanding of how the brains of birds evolved: between the 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx, the earliest known bird-like dinosaur, and birds living today.
Navaornis had a larger cerebrum than Archaeopteryx, suggesting it had more advanced cognitive capabilities than the earliest bird-like dinosaurs. However, most areas of its brain, like the cerebellum, were less developed, suggesting that it hadn’t yet evolved the complex flight control mechanisms of modern birds.
“The brain structure of Navaornis is almost exactly intermediate between Archaeopteryx and modern birds – it was one of these moments in which the missing piece fits absolutely perfectly,” said co-lead author Dr Guillermo Navalón from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences.
L-R: Archaeopteryx, Navaornis and Tangara seledon (a modern bird). Credit: Júlia d’Oliveira
Navaornis is named after William Nava, director of the Museu de Paleontologia de Marília in Brazil’s São Paolo State, who discovered the fossil in 2016 at a site in the neighbouring locality of Presidente Prudente. Tens of millions of years ago, this site was likely a dry area with slow-flowing creeks, which enabled the fossil’s exquisite preservation. This preservation allowed the researchers to use advanced micro-CT scanning technology to reconstruct the bird’s skull and brain in remarkable detail.
“This fossil is truly so one-of-a-kind that I was awestruck from the moment I first saw it to the moment I finished assembling all the skull bones and the brain, which lets us fully appreciate the anatomy of this early bird,” said Navalón.
“Modern birds have some of the most advanced cognitive capabilities in the animal kingdom, comparable only with mammals,” said Professor Daniel Field from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences, senior author of the research. “But scientists have struggled to understand how and when the unique brains and remarkable intelligence of birds evolved—the field has been awaiting the discovery of a fossil exactly like this one.”
