Early Bird Used Four Wings to Fly

[Roj47]

The earliest known bird had flight feathers on its legs that allowed it to use its hindlimbs as an extra pair of wings, a new study finds.

The finding, detailed in the current issue of the journal Paleobiology, supports the theory that early birds learned to glide and parachute from trees before achieving full-fledged flight.

"This paper puts forward some of the strongest evidence yet that birds descended from arboreal parachuters and gliders, similar to flying squirrels," said study author Nick Longrich, a doctoral student a the University of Calgary in Canada.

http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060...eryx_wings.html

[RollingThunder06]

Never thought about birds slowly evolving. This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Ravinar]

i made a thread about this a ways back heres the link

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum...showtopic=67448