Birds linked closely to dinosaurs

Pelican nestlings resemble Pterodactyl dinosaurs.  Photo by J.J. Meyer

       Modern day birds may simply be dinosaurs that never grew up, researchers say. A comparison of fossilized skulls of juvenile dinosaurs with those of birds shows remarkable similarities, adding further evidence to the growing consensus that birds are evolutionary descendants of dinosaurs. A Harvard University team reported in the journal Nature that for some as-yet-unknown reason, some dinosaur infants began to mature much more rapidly than normal. That rapid maturation altered their genes changing the physical characteristics of the animals and keeping them much smaller in size. Those changes allowed the development of a relatively bigger brain and the development of flight. 
Read more in the LA Times.
Happy Birding!
J.J.