#dinosamongus

[amnhnyc]

Whether comparing the claws of living birds and with those of extinct dinosaurs or experimenting to learn how bird beaks might have evolved, researchers are finding out more about dinosaurs—living and extinct—than they ever thought possible. See Dinosaurs Among Us before it closes on January 2. 

[amnhnyc]

Dinosaur Brains and Lungs

Fossilized dinosaur bones, eggs, and feathers offer clear signs that these extinct animals and living birds are tightly linked. But this kinship, on display in Dinosaurs Among Us, goes much deeper. High-tech views inside fossils and close study of birds and their closest living relatives, crocodiles, reveal the inside story: some features of the insides of dinosaurs were a lot like the insides of living birds and crocodiles. 

[amnhnyc]

Big, bad…and feathered. Yutyrannus huali weighed 1.5 tons and was a fearsome predator like its cousin T. rex. It also sported a shaggy coat of the filaments called “proto-feathers.” Birds are the only animals alive today with feathers—but 150 million years ago, it was a different story. Early birds had feathers, but so did dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. One reason? Feathers are one of the most useful skin coverings that ever evolved. Discover more feathered dinosaurs in Dinosaurs Among Us. 

[amnhnyc]

Though feathers first evolved for other functions, their ultimate adaptation is in the bird wing. Feathers are great for making light, sturdy, adjustable airfoils—the curved wing shapes that provide lift, and ultimately, flight. True flight is different from gliding. Animals capable of true flight can keep themselves in the air by their own power, supporting their weight by flapping. Gliding is more like a slow, controlled descent, as if guiding a parachute. 

[amnhnyc]

Lithornis is a close relative of ostriches and emus, but it could fly. It was once thought that large, flightless birds like ostriches were a separate evolutionary group from flying birds. But in fact, all birds alive today—even ostriches, emus, and other hefty ground-dwellers—evolved from smaller, flying birds

[amnhnyc]

This bird, Paracoracias occidentalis, the fossils of which were found in Green River, Wyoming, closely resembles modern-day birds called rollers that live mostly in the tropics. So what was this bird doing in Wyoming? When it was alive around 50 million years ago, Wyoming was warm and swampy, like the tropics are today. See more in Dinosaurs Among Us. 

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#thankyou @amnh for the #thoughtful #giftbag #DinosAmongUs #dinosatamnh #patsnaps #eventphotography #NYC (at West Chelsea, NYC)

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#NYC #event @medoffinc #dinosatamnh #DinosAmongUs #party #video #band @amnh #music #band (at American Museum of Natural History)