Re: Archaeopteryx gets a brain scan

[Jeff Hecht <jeff@jeffhecht.com>]

New Scientist has a report on-line at 
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996244&lpos=home2

The next big question, as Larry Witmer says, is what the brains of 
bird-like dinosaurs looked like. The Chinese feathered dinosaurs are 
squashed flat, so CAT scans are impossible, but there are other 
fossils. Stay tuned for some interesting results. -- Jeff Hecht

At 2:39 PM -0400 8/4/04, MKIRKALDY@aol.com wrote:
> There are two articles on the brain of _Archaeopteryx_ in tomorrow's 
> Nature, which conclude "that _Archaeopteryx_ was probably equipped 
> for flight."
>
> "Inside the oldest bird brain" - Lawrence Witmer
>
> "The avian nature of the brain and inner ear of _Archaeopteryx," by 
> Patricio Dominguez, Angela C. Milner, Richard A. Ketcham, M. John 
> Cookson and Timothy B. Rowe.
>
> "The remodelling of the brain towards the avian condition must have 
> begun well before the appearance of _Archaeopteryx_ 147 million 
> years ago in the latest Jurassic.  The convergent increase in visual 
> and vestibular regions in pterosaurs(19) is further evidence that 
> both an aerodynamic wing and a powerful central nervous system are 
> integral to powered flight."

--
Jeff Hecht, science & technology writer
jeff@jeffhecht.com; http://www.jeffhecht.com
Boston Correspondent: New Scientist magazine
Contributing Editor: Laser Focus World
525 Auburn St., Auburndale, MA 02466 USA
v. 617-965-3834; fax 617-332-4760