A new technique for analyzing DNA has resulted in the construction of the first complete family tree for birds. Researchers discovered that all birds evolved from a group of dinosaurs and that more than 10,000 bird species evolved within a few million years after the extinction of dinosaurs. A study describing the discovery was published in the journal Nature.
The authors of the study include researchers from Florida State University, Yale University, Cornell University, and North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences; the latter three institutions are members of NSC Alliance.
DNA Analysis Reveals Origins of Birds