Researchers Recovered A Dinosaur Foot From A Bird
Saturday, May 23, 2015 - 10:00
in Paleontology & Archaeology
A unique adaptation in the foot of birds is the presence of a thumb-like opposable toe, which allows them to grasp and perch. In their dinosaur ancestors, this toe was small and non- opposable, and did not even touch the ground, resembling the dewclaws of dogs and cats. The embryonic development of birds provides a parallel of this evolutionary history: The toe starts out like their dinosaur ancestors, but then its base (the metatarsal) becomes twisted, making it opposable. Brazilian researcher Joâo Botelho, working at the lab of Alexander Vargas at the University of Chile, decided to study the underlying mechanisms. Botelho observed that the twisting occurred shortly after the embryonic musculature of this toe was in place. read more