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Re: K/T Extinction & Birds
>>1870's. What else do we know about birds immediately before and
>>immediately after the K/T? When did birds lose their teeth? Or were there
>>perhaps two seperate clads of birds, those with teeth and those without.? If
>>so, did any toothed birds survive the K/T?
>
>As far as I know (and I can't for the life of me remember where I read
>this), toothless birds had evolved before the end of the Cretaceous, but all
>known bird fossils from the early Tertiary have teeth. It looks as though
>this is a trait which evolved more than once.
Actually, there are NO known toothed birds in the Mesozoic.
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. Phone: 703-648-5280
Vertebrate Paleontologist Fax: 703-648-5420
tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov ------------> th81@umail.umd.edu
U.S. Geological Survey -------------> University of Maryland
Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy ----> Department of Geology
MS 970 National Center
Reston, VA 22092 -------------> College Park, MD 20742
U.S.A.