Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Fossil discoveries unlock chapters of our planet’s storied ...

The early evolution of birds has long been a mystery due to the limited fossil record. Two bird fossils dating back 149 million years to the Jurassic era have been unearthed in Fujian Province, ...

Scientists uncovered a 149-million-year-old bird fossil in southeastern China with unexpectedly modern traits they believe could rewrite the evolutionary history of birds. The recently discovered ...

The woodpecker is a unique bird species that has gone through some mysteriously acquired adaptations since the extinction of the dinosaurs. Fossils tell us, without any explanations of course (because ...

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.

An 80-million-year-old fossil bird has been discovered with a skull so exquisitely preserved that scientists have been able to study the detailed structure of its brain. The fossil, which bears a ...

STOCKTON, Calif. — A remarkable fossil discovery from Antarctica is rewriting the story of bird evolution. Scientists have unearthed an exceptionally well-preserved skull belonging to Vegavis iaai, a ...