{"id":43835,"date":"2024-11-13T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6e9424e0-4357-42d4-914e-d7d3a9839c0e"},"modified":"2024-11-13T18:27:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T17:27:30","slug":"i-was-awestruck-from-the-moment-i-first-saw-it-to-the-moment-i-finished-assembling-the-skull-and-brain","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/i-was-awestruck-from-the-moment-i-first-saw-it-to-the-moment-i-finished-assembling-the-skull-and-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI was awestruck from the moment I first saw it to the moment I finished assembling the skull and brain\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Evolutionary biologists say a “one-of-a-kind” fossil discovered in Brazil could transform our understanding of how the unique intelligence of modern birds evolved. <\/p>

By Daniel Graham\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 13 November 2024 at 16:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

In 2016, palaeontologist\u00a0William Nava made a remarkable discovery. He unearthed a small fossil that may unlock the secrets behind the evolution of modern birds\u2019 complex brains and intelligence \u2013 one of the most enduring mysteries of vertebrate history.<\/strong><\/p>

According to new research, the fossilised bird \u2013 named\u00a0Navaornis hestiae<\/em> \u2013 lived around 80 million years ago during the Mesozoic Era, in what is now Brazil.<\/p>

Comparable in size to a starling<\/a>, the skull is preserved in near-perfect three-dimensional form \u2013 an extraordinary rarity, especially for such an ancient species.\u00a0<\/p>

This preservation has enabled researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to reconstruct the bird\u2019s brain digitally, offering groundbreaking insights into how bird cognition evolved.<\/p>

Video: a visual journey through Navaornis hestiae’s skull and brain\/Guillermo Naval\u00f3n <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

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\u201cOne-of-a-kind\u201d fossil<\/h2>
The work, published in\u00a0Nature<\/a><\/em>, reveals that\u00a0Navaornis<\/em>\u00a0could be the missing piece for understanding the origins of modern avian intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>
Filling in a 70-million-year gap between the earliest known bird-like dinosaur, Archaeopteryx<\/em>, and today\u2019s birds, the fossil sheds light on how birds\u2019 brains gradually developed.<\/p>
According to the researchers,\u00a0Navaornis<\/em>\u00a0has a larger cerebrum than\u00a0Archaeopteryx<\/em>, indicating advanced cognitive abilities; but other brain structures, such as the cerebellum, remain less developed. This suggests\u00a0Navaornis<\/em>\u00a0had not yet evolved the sophisticated flight control seen in today\u2019s birds.<\/p>
\u201cThe brain structure of Navaornis is almost exactly intermediate between Archaeopteryx and modern birds,\u201d says Dr. Guillermo Naval\u00f3n, co-lead author from Cambridge\u2019s Department of Earth Sciences. \u201cIt was one of these moments in which the missing piece fits absolutely perfectly.\u201d<\/p>
The species was named Navaornis hestiae in honour of William Nava, the director of Brazil\u2019s Museu de Paleontologia de Mar\u00edlia, who discovered the fossil in 2016\/Stephanie Abramowicz <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

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Into the brain<\/h2>
Using cutting-edge micro-CT scans, the researchers meticulously reconstructed the bird\u2019s skull and brain, unveiling remarkable details of its internal structure.<\/p>
\u201cThis fossil is truly so one-of-a-kind that I was awestruck from the moment I first saw it to the moment I finished assembling all the skull bones and the brain,\u201d Naval\u00f3n says.<\/p>
Professor Daniel Field, senior author of the study, explains the significance of the discovery: \u201cModern birds have some of the most advanced cognitive capabilities in the animal kingdom, comparable only with mammals. But scientists have struggled to understand how and when the unique brains and remarkable intelligence of birds evolved \u2013 the field has been awaiting the discovery of a fossil exactly like this one.\u201d<\/p>
Belonging to an ancient group of birds known as enantiornithines, or \u2018opposite birds,\u2019\u00a0Navaornis<\/em>\u00a0diverged from modern birds over 130 million years ago.\u00a0<\/p>

Video: delve deeper into Navaornis hestiae’s mind\/Guillermo Naval\u00f3n <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
Although at first glance its skull resembles that of a small pigeon, closer examination reveals that Navaornis<\/em>\u00a0is distinctly primitive. Unlike modern birds, it lacks the expanded cerebellum that supports spatial awareness in flight. How, then, did it manage the coordination required for flight? This question adds a new layer of intrigue to the evolutionary puzzle.<\/p>
\u201cThis fossil represents a species at the midpoint along the evolutionary journey of bird cognition,\u201d says Field. \u201cIts cognitive abilities may have given\u00a0Navaornis<\/em>\u00a0an advantage when it came to finding food or shelter, and it may have been capable of elaborate mating displays or other complex social behaviour.\u201d<\/p>
$\"Navaornis$
Navaornis\u00a0was found at a site that, millions of years ago, comprised slow-moving creeks and a dry climate ideal for fossil preservation\/J\u00falia D’Oliveira <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
What’s next?<\/h2>
While\u00a0Navaornis<\/em>\u00a0is one of the most significant Mesozoic bird fossils discovered, the researchers hope additional discoveries at the Brazilian site could provide further insights into avian evolution.<\/p>
\u201cThis might be just one fossil, but it\u2019s a key piece in the puzzle of bird brain evolution,\u201d Field says. \u201cWith\u00a0Navaornis<\/em>, we\u2019ve got a clearer view of the evolutionary changes that occurred between\u00a0Archaeopteryx<\/em>\u00a0and today\u2019s intelligent, behaviourally complex birds like crows<\/a> and parrots<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>
Despite this breakthrough, the team sees\u00a0Navaornis<\/em>\u00a0as only the first step towards understanding the evolution of bird cognition. The fossil is part of a recent lineage of discoveries, including\u00a0Ichthyornis<\/em>,\u00a0Asteriornis<\/em>, and\u00a0Janavis<\/em>, by Field\u2019s research group, whose findings continue to reveal new perspectives on the origins of the world\u2019s most diverse vertebrate class: birds<\/a>.<\/p>
$\"Navaornis$
Navaornis fills a 70-million-year gap in our knowledge of the evolution of the unique bird brain. Navaornis hestiae (centre) documents a previously unknown intermediate stage in the evolution of the central nervous system between the earliest birds (e.g. Archaeopteryx, left) and living birds (e.g. Tangara seledon, right)\/J\u00falia d\u2019Oliveira.Main image: Navaornis hestiae in a human hand\/Stephanie Abramowicz <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
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What’s next?<\/h2> While\u00a0Navaornis<\/em>\u00a0is one of the most significant Mesozoic bird fossils discovered, the researchers hope additional discoveries at the Brazilian site could provide further insights into avian evolution.<\/p>