Forest birds evolved early, DNA shows
Thursday, July 10, 2008 - 14:49
in Biology & Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- Evolution seems to have happened in fits and starts -- at least that's what the fossil record shows. From trilobites to pterodactyls, ammonites to Archaeopteryx, scientists find the same pattern: brief bursts of innovation in which a single species or branch on the tree of life turns into a cluster of new twigs, then lapses into long stretches ruled by the status quo.