The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World: The Definitive Dinosaur Encyclopedia with Stunning Illustrations, Embark on a Prehistoric Quest!

by Steve Brusatte

Today’s birds stand out among all modern animals. Feathers, wings, toothless beaks, wishbones, big heads that bob along on an S-shaped neck, hollow bones, toothpick legs . . . the list goes on. These signature features define what we call the bird body plan: the blueprint that makes a bird a bird. This body plan is behind the many superskills that birds are so renowned for: their ability to fly, their hypercharged growth rates, their warm-blooded physiology, and their high intelligence and sharp senses. We want to know where this body plan came from. The feathered dinosaurs of Liaoning give us the answer. And it’s remarkable: many of the supposedly signature features of today’s birds—the components of their blueprint—first evolved in their dinosaur ancestors. Far from being unique to birds, these features developed much earlier, in ground-living theropods, for reasons wholly unrelated to flight.