Bird Evolution Tightly Linked To Climate And Plate Tectonics

Plants and Animals





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Flock of scarlet and white ibises. Michael Meshcheryakov/Shutterstock

Modern birds originated around 95 million years ago in South America, according to researchers who created a "time tree" using both fossils and genomic data from hundreds of birds. Their findings, published in Science Advances this week, show that plate tectonics and global climate change left an imprint on the evolution of modern birds.