BIRDS: Dinosaurs Among Us!

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ORNITHOMIMUS (Late Cretaceous)

Selected New York Times articles

BEIPIAOSAURUS (Early Cretaceous)

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OVIRAPTOR (Late Cretaceous)

The Origin of Birds

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY © https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms_06 The discovery that birds evolved from small carnivorous dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic was made possible by recently discovered fossils from China, South America, and other locations, as well as by looking at old museum specimens from new perspectives and with new methods. The hunt for the ancestors of living birds began with a specimen of Archaeopteryx, the first known bird, discovered in the early 1860s. Like birds, it had feathers along its arms and tail, but unlike living birds, it also had teeth and a long bony tail. Furthermore, many of the bones in Archaeopteryx's hands, shoulder girdles, pelvis, and feet were distinct, not fused and reduced as they are in living birds. Based on these characteristics, Archaeopteryx was recognized as an intermediate between birds and reptiles; but which reptiles? In the 1970s, paleontologists noticed that Archaeopteryx shared unique features with small carnivorous dinosaurs called theropods. All the dinosaur groups on this evogram, except the ornithischian dinosaurs, are theropods. Based on their shared features, scientists reasoned that perhaps the theropods were the ancestors of birds. When paleontologists built evolutionary trees to study the question, they were even more convinced. The birds are simply a twig on the dinosaurs' branch of the tree of life. As birds evolved from these theropod dinosaurs, many of their features were modified. However, it's important to remember that the animals were not "trying" to be birds in any sense. In fact, the more closely we look, the more obvious it is that the suite of features that characterize birds evolved through a complex series of steps and served different functions along the way. Take feathers, for example. Small theropods related to Compsognathus (e.g., Sinosauropteryx) probably evolved the first feathers. These short, hair-like feathers grew on their heads, necks, and bodies and provided insulation. The feathers seem to have had different color patterns as well, although whether these were for display, camouflage, species recognition, or another function is difficult to tell. In theropods even more closely related to birds, like the oviraptorosaurs, we find several new types of feathers. One is branched and downy, as pictured below. Others have evolved a central stalk, with unstructured branches coming off it and its base. Still others (like the dromaeosaurids [raptors] and Archaeopteryx) have a vane-like structure in which the barbs are well-organized and locked together by barbules. This is identical to the feather structure of living birds. Another line of evidence comes from changes in the digits of the dinosaurs leading to birds. The first theropod dinosaurs had hands with small fifth and fourth digits and a long second digit. As the diagram shows, in the theropod lineage that would eventually lead to birds, the fifth digit (e.g., as seen in Coelophysoids) and then the fourth (e.g., as seen in Allosaurids) were completely lost. The wrist bones underlying the first and second digits consolidated and took on a semicircular form that allowed the hand to rotate sideways against the forearm. This eventually allowed birds' wing joints to move in a way that creates thrust for flight. The functions of feathers as they evolved have long been debated. As we have seen, the first, simplest, hair-like feathers obviously served an insulatory function. But in later theropods, such as some oviraptorosaurs, the feathers on the arms and hands are long, even though the forelimbs themselves are short. What did these animals do with long feathers on short arms? One suggestion comes from some remarkable fossils of oviraptorosaurs preserved in the Cretaceous sediments of the Gobi Desert. The skeleton of the animal is hunched up on a nest of eggs, like a brooding chicken. The hands are spread out over the eggs as if to shelter them. So perhaps these feathers served the function of warming the eggs and shielding them from harm. Birds after Archaeopteryx continued evolving in some of the same directions as their theropod ancestors. Many of their bones were reduced and fused, which may have helped increase the efficiency of flight. Similarly, the bone walls became even thinner, and the feathers became longer and their vanes asymmetrical, probably also improving flight. The bony tail was reduced to a stump, and a spray of feathers at the tail eventually took on the function of improving stability and maneuverability. The wishbone, which was present in non-bird dinosaurs, became stronger and more elaborate, and the bones of the shoulder girdle evolved to connect to the breastbone, anchoring the flight apparatus of the forelimb. The breastbone itself became larger, and evolved a central keel along the midline of the breast which served to anchor the flight muscles. The arms evolved to be longer than the legs, as the main form of locomotion switched from running to flight, and teeth were lost repeatedly in various lineages of early birds. The ancestor of all living birds lived sometime in the Late Cretaceous, and in the 66 million years since the extinction of the rest of the dinosaurs, this ancestral lineage diversified into the four major groups of birds alive today: Ostriches and relatives (Paleognathae), ducks and relatives (Anseriformes), ground-living fowl (Galliformes), and “modern birds” (Neoaves).
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NOTE: More than 90 percent of modern birds are part of the clade known as Neoaves. In other words, they are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor. The few orders of birds not among the Neoaves are the ostriches and kiwis (Palaeognathae); chickens, grouse, and other landfowl (Galliformes); and ducks and geese (Anseriformes).The five major groups within Neoaves:
  • Strisores — nightjars, frogmouths, and other nocturnal birds, along with diurnal swifts and hummingbirds.
  • Columbaves — turacos, bustards, cuckoos, pigeons, sandgrouse, and mesites.
  • Gruiformes — cranes, rails, crakes, Sungrebe, flufftails, and others.
  • Aequorlitornithes — shorebirds, flamingos, grebes, gulls, tropicbirds, penguins, and other waterbirds.
  • Inopinaves — all landbirds, including hawks, owls, toucans, falcons, parrots, and songbirds.

(c) https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/blog/2015/10/07/new-avian-family-tree-puts-most-species-into-five-major-groups/
Deinonychus antirrhopus by Carlo Arellano

Birds: The Late Evolution of Dinosaurs

THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY© https://nhm.org/site/research-collections/dinosaur-institute/dinosaurs/birds-late-evolution-dinosaurs Recently, fossils of early birds and their most immediate predecessors have been collected at an unprecedented rate from Mesozoic-aged rocks worldwide. This wealth of new fossils has settled the century-old controversy of the origin of birds. Today, we can safely declare that birds evolved from a group of dinosaurs known as maniraptoran theropods--generally small meat-eating dinosaurs that include Velociraptor of Jurassic Park fame. Evidence that birds evolved from the carnivorous predators that ruled the Mesozoic ecosystems is plentiful and it comes from disparate lines of evidence. Traditionally, the prime source of evidence in support of this scientific view was the similar shape of the bones of birds and a variety of maniraptorans but spectacular new discoveries have added other lines of evidence to the table. One of these involves a suite of features from the eggs of these dinosaurs. A host of fossils have shown that not only did maniraptoran dinosaurs resemble birds in the way they laid their eggs but that these eggs also looked like the eggs of birds. Another line of evidence involves the handful of snapshots that tell us about the behavior of the maniraptoran theropods. Fossils of animals in brooding poses or in resting postures also show a startling similarity with the behaviors we see among living birds. Yet, perhaps the most compelling new line of evidence comes from the discovery of soft tissues associated with the skeletons of these predatory dinosaurs, many fossils of these creatures are now known to have been covered by plumage. All this evidence has highlighted the fact that many features that were previously thought to be exclusively avian-from feathers to a wishbone-have now been discovered in the immediate dinosaur predecessor of birds. Even flight is likely to have been an attribute inherited by birds from their dinosaurian forebears! If the new wealth of fossils has clarified the old controversy of the origin of birds, many other fossils have provided a vivid testimony of the early phases of avian evolution. Hidden in these fossils are the clues to how birds perfected their flying abilities and how they evolved warm bloodedness. As we know it today, the known history of birds starts with the spectacular Archaeopteryx, a jay-sized creature with toothed jaws, a long lizard-like tail, and flight feathers. Archaeopteryx lived 150 million years ago in today's southern Germany. Although Archaeopteryx stands alone in the fossil record of birds of the end of the Jurassic period, within the last decade a large number and variety of birds have been found in Cretaceous rocks ranging from 130 to 115 million years ago. Some of these fossils show that a great diversity of birds with long bony tails preceded the evolution of birds with the familiar short bony tail. Birds of the early Cretaceous blossomed in a range of shapes and sizes. The crow-sized, stout-beaked Confuciusornis sported enormous claws in its wings while the contemporaneous Sapeornis had very long and narrow wings like those of an albatross. These two birds were much larger than the sparrow-sized Eoenantiornis and Iberomesornis, which like most early birds had toothed jaws similar to those of Archaeopteryx. The different design of skulls, teeth, wings, and feet indicate that already at this early phase of their evolutionary history, birds had specialized into a variety of ecological niches, including seed-feeders, sap-eaters, insect-feeders, fish-eaters, and meat-eaters. At the same time, a host of novel features of the wings and ribcages suggests that soon after Archaeopteryx, birds evolved flying abilities not very different from the ones that amaze us today. As the rocks of the Cretaceous period become younger, the fossil record includes a great number of bird species with even more diverse lifestyles. The hesperornithiforms-large, flightless, foot-propelled divers-made their debut around 100 million years ago. A few million years later, these supreme fish-eaters would be crowned kings of the aquatic birds with the tiny-winged, 4-foot long, Hesperornis. The hesperornithiforms swam the waters of a warm sea dissecting North America from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic. On the shore of this shallow sea, over herds of duck-billed dinosaurs, soared the tern-sized Ichthyornis. Its large head with sharp teeth was designed to catch fish. Not all the birds that lived during the Mesozoic, the Age of Large Dinosaurs, may have looked as unfamiliar as Archaeopteryx, Confuciusornis, and Hesperornis. The early representatives of today's lineages of birds can also be traced back to this remote era of our geological past. In several continents, rocks from the last part of the Cretaceous period have started to provide the remains of early shore-birds, ducks, and other more familiar birds. Their descendants are the true heirs of the magnificent dinosaurs that ruled the Earth tens of millions of years ago.

Common Characteristics of Dinosaurs & Birds

It is now commonly believed that ALL theropod dinosaurs possessed some kind of feathers; controversially, some now hold that some of the Sauropods and the Ornithischian dinosaurs like Triceratops might also have possessed feathers or feather like structures on portions of their bodies.
EOCONFUCIUSORNIS (with feather imprints)
ZHENYUANLONG (with feather imprints)
Feathers Archaeopteryx, the first good example of a "feathered dinosaur,” was discovered in 1861. The first specimen was found in the Solnhofen limestone in southern Germany, which is a lagerstätte, a rare and remarkable geological formation known for its superbly detailed fossils. Archaeopteryx is a transitional fossil, with features clearly intermediate between those of non-avian theropod dinosaurs and birds. Discovered just two years after Darwin's seminal Origin of Species, its discovery spurred the nascent debate between proponents of evolutionary biology and creationism. This early bird is so dinosaur-like that, without a clear impression of feathers in the surrounding rock, at least one specimen was mistaken for a non-avian theropod. Since the 1990s, a number of additional feathered dinosaurs have been found, providing even stronger evidence of the close relationship between dinosaurs and modern birds. The first of these were initially described as simple filamentous protofeathers, which were reported in dinosaur lineages such as tyrannosauroids. However, feathers indistinguishable from those of modern birds were soon after found in non-avian dinosaurs as well. We now know that most theropod dinosaurs possessed feathers of some kind--even T-rex and raptors. A small minority of researchers have claimed that the simple filamentous "protofeather" structures are simply the result of the decomposition of collagen fiber under the dinosaurs' skin or in fins along their backs, and that species with unquestionable feathers, such as oviraptorosaurs and dromaeosaurs are not dinosaurs, but true birds unrelated to dinosaurs. However, a majority of studies have concluded that feathered dinosaurs are in fact dinosaurs, and that the simpler filaments of unquestionable theropods represent simple feathers. Some researchers have demonstrated the presence of color-bearing melanin in the structures—which would be expected in feathers but not collagen fibers. Others have demonstrated, using studies of modern bird decomposition, that even advanced feathers appear filamentous when subjected to the crushing forces experienced during fossilization, and that the supposed "protofeathers" may have been more complex than previously thought. Detailed examination of the "protofeathers" of Sinosauropteryx showed that individual feathers consisted of a central quill (rachis) with thinner barbs branching off from it, similar to but more primitive in structure than modern bird feathers.
Skeleton Because feathers are often associated with birds, feathered dinosaurs are often touted as the missing link between birds and dinosaurs. However, the multiple skeletal features also shared by the two groups represent the more important link for paleontologists. Furthermore, it is increasingly clear that the relationship between birds and dinosaurs, and the evolution of flight, are more complex topics than previously realized. For example, while it was once believed that birds evolved from dinosaurs in one linear progression, some scientists, most notably Gregory S. Paul, conclude that dinosaurs such as the dromaeosaurs may have evolved from birds, losing the power of flight while keeping their feathers in a manner similar to the modern ostrich and other ratites. Comparisons of bird and dinosaur skeletons strengthens the case for the link, particularly for a branch of theropods called maniraptors. Skeletal similarities include the neck, pubis, wrist (semi-lunate carpal), arm and pectoral girdle, shoulder blade, clavicle, and breast bone. A study comparing embryonic, juvenile and adult archosaur skulls concluded that bird skulls are derived from those of theropod dinosaurs by progenesis, which resulted in retention of juvenile characteristics of their ancestors.
Lung Large meat-eating dinosaurs had a complex system of air sacs similar to those found in modern birds, according to an investigation led by Patrick M. O'Connor of Ohio University. In theropod dinosaurs (carnivores that walked on two legs and had birdlike feet) flexible soft tissue air sacs likely pumped air through the stiff lungs, as is the case in birds. "What was once formally considered unique to birds was present in some form in the ancestors of birds,” O'Connor said.
Heart Computed tomography (CT) scans conducted in 2000 of the chest cavity of a specimen of the ornithopod Thescelosaurus found the apparent remnants of complex four-chambered hearts, much like those found in today's mammals and birds. The question of how this find reflects metabolic rate and dinosaur internal anatomy has not been resolved. Both modern crocodilians and birds, the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, have four-chambered hearts (albeit modified in crocodilians), so dinosaurs probably had them as well; the structure is not necessarily tied to metabolic rate.
Sleeping Posture Fossils of the troodonts Mei and Sinornithoides demonstrate that the dinosaurs slept like certain modern birds, with their heads tucked under their arms. This behavior, which may have helped to keep the head warm, is also characteristic of modern birds.
Reproductive Biology When laying eggs, female birds grow a special type of bone in their limbs. This medullary bone forms as a calcium-rich layer inside the hard outer bone, and is used as a calcium source to make eggshells. The presence of endosteally derived bone tissues lining the interior marrow cavities of portions of a Tyrannosaurus rex specimen's hind limb suggested that T. rex used similar reproductive strategies, and revealed that the specimen is female. Further research has found medullary bone in the theropod Allosaurus and ornithopod Tenontosaurus. Because the line of dinosaurs that includes Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus diverged from the line that led to Tenontosaurus very early in the evolution of dinosaurs, this suggests that dinosaurs in general produced medullary tissue.
Brooding and Care of Young Several different specimens of theropod dinosaurs have been found resting over the eggs in its nest in a position most reminiscent of brooding. Numerous dinosaur species, for example Maiasaura, have been found in herds mixing both very young and adult individuals, suggesting rich interactions between them. A dinosaur embryo was found without teeth, which suggests some parental care was required to feed the young dinosaur, possibly the adult dinosaur regurgitated food into the young dinosaur's mouth. This behaviour is seen in numerous bird species; parent birds regurgitate food into the hatchling's mouth.
Gizzard Stones Both birds and ancient dinosaurs use gizzard stones. These stones are swallowed by animals to aid digestion and break down food and hard fibres once they enter the stomach. When found in association with fossils, gizzard stones are called gastroliths.
Molecular Evidence On several occasions, the extraction of DNA and proteins from Mesozoic dinosaur fossils has been claimed, allowing for a comparison with birds. Several proteins have putatively been detected in dinosaur fossils, including hemoglobin. In the March 2005 issue of Science, Dr. Mary Higby Schweitzer and her team announced the discovery of flexible material resembling actual soft tissue inside a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex leg bone of specimen MOR 1125 from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana. The seven collagen types obtained from the bone fragments, compared to collagen data from living birds (specifically, a chicken), suggest that older theropods and birds are closely related. The soft tissue allowed a molecular comparison of cellular anatomy and protein sequencing of collagen tissue published in 2007, both of which indicated that T. rex and birds are more closely related to each other than either is to Alligator. The successful extraction of ancient DNA from dinosaur fossils has been reported on two separate occasions, but upon further inspection and peer review, neither of these reports could be confirmed.
BIRD WINGS are homologous with our [human] arm/hand. That means that a bird wing has a humerus, radius, ulna, as well as carpal bones, metacarpals, and phalanges. We call this homologous, because our limbs were inherited from a common ancestor. What has changed over millions of years is the structure of the "hands"; the metacarpals and phlanges of birds have fused. What makes this even more interesting is when you add a bat’s wing into the mix. Bats are mammals, like us. Their limb is homologous with ours (same bones, like the bird) but their wing is analagous to a bird's. We call it analagous because the two wings were not inherited from the same ancestor. Birds and bats evolved flight independently. Put another way: Humans, birds and bats are all tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates), but where the difference lies is that bats and birds developed their wings and their ability to fly from different ancestors. We may all be tetrapods, but mammals and dinosaur/birds diverged many millions of years ago and formed two completely different lineages. (ANALOGY: Trees and flowers are plants, but they diverged into two different lineages.)
Original material and https://www.quora.com
WHAT DID THEY SOUND LIKE? An ongoing mystery revolves around the sounds that dinosaurs could make. Dinosaurs evolved from a branch of reptiles called Archosauromorphs. Modern reptiles like turtles, lizards, and snakes are pretty much mute--though some can make clicking sounds and hisses as snakes do, for example. Alligators and crocodiles can produce deep growls by forcing out air from their lungs through the epiglottis at the back of the throat. Some reptiles have a larynx and multilayered membranes called vocal folds – better known as vocal chords – that alter airflow as they dilate and vibrate, but to get those parts into the right positions to make sound, several species rely on other muscles in the throat. The gecko is the only lizard that we know of that actually possesses "vocal cords"--but even those are structured and operate differently from our cords. The overall bottom line is that reptiles do not have a sophisticated vocal cord apparatus like we humans (and some mammals such as dogs). Modern birds, however, do possess a syrinx (see diagrams below) that allows them to produce their sounds/songs. Air coming from the lungs passes over tympanic membranes and a pessulus, allowing the animal to chirp, sing, warble, or caw depending on the species. Since birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs, can we infer that at least some of those kinds of dinosaurs might also have possessed a sound-producing organ in their throats? Which then begs a whole bunch of fun questions: Did T-rex caw? Did velociraptor chirp? Did Oviraptor sing? Have the movies gotten it all wrong? We simply don't know, but it is intriguing to think that as dinosaurs diverged from the rest of the reptile family, that at least one group--the theropods--might have developed a syrinx-like mechanism to produce sound or song. It certainly sparks the imagination. NOTE: Since dinosaurs evolved from other reptiles and birds evolved from dinosaurs, does that mean that birds are reptiles? That's a serious on-going debate among some ornithologists. To "complicate" matters, some species of birds, such as New World vultures (that look curiously like their theropod ancestors), lack a syrinx and communicate through throaty hisses--just like crocodilian reptiles do. So...stay tuned--every day brings more answers, more questions, more mysteries.

Reproduction

  • Obviously, every bird group--and that means DINOSAURS--reproduces.
  • The way that 97 percent of all birds go at it is by using an all-purpose organ called the CLOACA--and when I say all-purpose, I do mean ALL-PURPOSE.
  • The CLOACA is the opening to a bird’s digestive system, its urinary tract, and its reproductive system. So, where a bird pees, where a bird poops, and where a bird exchanges reproductive material are all done through the same organ--the CLOACA. No wonder the ancient Romans called this opening the CLOACA, which translates from the Latin as the word “sewer.”
  • The cloaca is present not only in birds, but also in reptiles, amphibians, most fish, and monotremes like the platypus. But, of course, there are exceptions.
  • Ducks, swans, and geese--the Anseriforme birds--insert a corkscrew shaped penis--often 12 or more inches in length--into the female’s similarly corkscrew-shaped vagina to deposit sperm. And certain Paleonathae, like ostriches, also possess rather prodigious penises. But these phallus-bearing animals only represent about 3 percent of all birds. Most birds use a cloaca to cloaca approach.
  • The reproductive practice of modern birds raises the question about how other dinosaurs in the distant past mated. Did extinct therapod dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex mate like birds? And was their ritual closer to penguins or closer to ducks and ostriches? Or put another way--Do modern birds mate like extinct dinosaurs? It’s a serious debate among paleontologists and ornithologists. We just don’t have the answers because we don’t have anything approach a comprehensive fossil record of primitive sex organs. Why is that? Because soft tissue like internal organs, exterior sex organs, or something like eyes or the nose deteriorate rapidly. As a result, it's extremely difficult to find any kind of fossil evidence for these organs.
  • Recently, however, there's been an important discovery involving a theropod dinosaur called Psittacosaurus that preserves the cloaca. It becomes immediate proof that some non-avian dinosaurs had cloaca, thus suggesting possible mating practices.
  • NY TIMES ARTICLE: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/19/science/dinosaur-cloaca-fossil.html?
  • NEW SCIENTIST: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2265202-stunning-fossil-suggests-dinosaurs-lured-mates-with-smell-and-vision/
  • CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/19/world/dinosaur-fossil-sex-study-scn/index.html

Extinct Avian and Non-avian Dinosaurs

LATE MIOCENE/EARLY PLIOCENE: ANDALGALORNIS: The "Terror Bird"
EARLY PLEISTOCENE: Pelagornis Chilensis
  • AN A to Z OF EXTINCT FEATHERED DINOSAURS IN CHINA/ASIA
  • http://flyingdinosaurs.net/a-z-of-feathered-dinosaurs/
  • The Chinese forests of the Jurassic and Cretaceous would have been filled with a bizarre menagerie of bird-like dinosaurs, which later shared these same forests with birds themselves. This is a list of the species for which we have direct evidence of feathers, either in the form of fossil impressions or features of bones linked to the presence of feathers in living birds. [John Pickrell, author of FLYING DINOSAURS, updates this website regularly.]
FEATHERED AVIAN AND NON-AVIAN DINOSAURS ACROSS THE AGES INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT REPRESENTATIVE NON-AVIAN AND AVIAN DINOSAURS 1. TRIASSIC: COELOPHYSIS: https://www.thoughtco.com/things-to-know-coelophysis-10937792. JURASSIC: KULINDADROMEUS: https://iknowdino.com/kulindadromeus-kulinda-river-running-dinosaur/ ANCHIORNIS: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/anchiornis-huxleyi/#anchiornis-huxleyi.jpg ARCHAEOPTERYX (BIRD): http://mentalfloss.com/article/56314/10-facts-about-archaeopteryx3. CRETACEOUS: BEIPIAOSAURUS: http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/b/beipiaosaurus.html SINOSAUROPTERYX: http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/s/sinosauropteryx.html ZHENYUANLONG: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/phenomena/2015/07/16/paleo-profile-zhenyuanlong-suni/ EOCONFUCIUSORNIS (BIRD): http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/melanosomes-beta-keratin-feathers-bird-eoconfuciusornis-04398.html DEINONYCHUS: https://www.thoughtco.com/deinonychus-the-terrible-claw-1093783 ORNITHOMIMUS: https://www.thoughtco.com/things-to-know-ornithomimus-1093793 GIGANTORAPTOR https://www.thoughtco.com/things-to-know-gigantoraptor-1093788 OVIRAPTOR: https://www.thoughtco.com/oviraptor-the-egg-thief-dinosaur-1093794 STRUTHIOMIMUS: http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/s/struthiomimus.html VELOCIRAPTOR: https://www.thoughtco.com/things-to-know-velociraptor-10938064. EOCENE: GASTORNIS: https://www.newdinosaurs.com/gastornis/5. MIOCENE: ANDALGALORNIS: http://cenozoiclife.blogspot.com/2015/11/steuletts-terror-bird-andalgalornis.html PELAGORNIS: https://www.newdinosaurs.com/pelagornis/6. PLEISTOCENE: ORNIMEGALONYX: http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/o/ornimegalonyx.html

Current Living Dinosaurs

EMU (Australia)
OSTRICH (Central Africa)

Paleognathae

Palaeognathae contains five extant branches of flightless lineages, termed ratites, and one flying lineage, the neotropic tinamous.
MALLARD (Duck) [Canada]
CANADIAN GEESE

Anseriformes

Anseriformes is an order of birds that comprise about 180 living species in three families: Anhimidae (the screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which includes over 170 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans.
GOLDEN PHEASANT
ROOSTER

Galliformes

Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkey, grouse, chicken, New World quail and Old World quail, ptarmigan, partridge, pheasant, junglefowl and the Cracidae. The name derives from "gallus", Latin for "cock" or "rooster.” Common names are gamefowl or gamebirds, landfowl, gallinaceous birds, or galliforms.
HUMMINGBIRD (Strisores)
PIGEON (Columbaves)
CRANE (Gruiformes)

Neoaves

  • "Land Birds" and "Water Birds" are informal names for two large clades within Neoaves; Neoaves represent 90 percent of all living bird species. Many ornithologists suggest that there are five main groups within Neoaves.
  • Strisores — nightjars, frogmouths, and other nocturnal birds, along with diurnal swifts and hummingbirds.
  • Columbaves — turacos, bustards, cuckoos, pigeons, sandgrouse, and mesites.
  • Gruiformes — cranes, rails, crakes, Sungrebe, flufftails, and others.
  • Aequornithes — shorebirds, flamingos, grebes, gulls, tropicbirds, penguins, and other waterbirds.
  • Inopinaves — all landbirds, including hawks, owls, toucans, falcons, parrots, and songbirds.
  • But other ornithologists are disputing this list and are coming up with completely different cladograms. Here are some of the new proposals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoaves
GULLS (Aequornithes)
HAWK (Inopinaves)
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