Provost Lecture - Mark Norell: How Fossils Reveal the Evolution of Birds from Other Dinosaurs

The evolution of many of the characteristics of birds has been a vexing problem to biologists since an evolutionary view was adopted. The origin of features like feathers, wishbones, advanced behaviors, and flight all until recently generated more speculation than empirical science. A combination of new fossil discoveries, primarily from Asia, and the use of new instruments and methodologies has changed all this. We can now dissect many of the parts of modern birds (everything from feathers to behaviors) and understand that birds are not so special at all. Instead they are a contemporary group of living dinosaurs, whose non-avian relatives share many of their attributes.