Ostriches and emus cannot move their upper beaks. Biologists have long believed that this was the case for the earliest birds – but a surprising fossil tells a different story
Artist’s reconstruction of Janavis finalidens, a very large marine bird from the late Cretaceous. In the background are Asteriornis, another bird found in the same fossil depositA 67-million-year-old bird skull has overturned an established theory about how modern birds evolved.
, and that jointed upper beaks – which allow the top beak to move up and down independently of the head – evolved later. Approximately 99 per cent of modern birds have jointed upper beaks, which may have advantages for nest-building, grooming, food-gathering and defence, says Field. To their amazement, the two bone pieces matched up perfectly along their fragmented lines. Combined, they created a single bone that looked a lot like the jointed upper beak bone of most modern birds, called the pterygoid.
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