[HN Gopher] Bird brain from the age of dinosaurs reveals roots o...
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       Bird brain from the age of dinosaurs reveals roots of avian
       intelligence
        
       Author : gmays
       Score  : 115 points
       Date   : 2024-11-18 15:24 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cam.ac.uk)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cam.ac.uk)
        
       | bbor wrote:
       | A) incredible article, one of the few where I didn't feel
       | compelled to give up and find the underlying paper. Well written,
       | beautiful diagrams, appreciably concise. Thanks for posting!
       | 
       | B) The image of ~starlings hanging out with dinosaurs blew my
       | mind. Talk about an odd juxtaposition! But I'm no dinosaur nerd,
       | and haven't seen the new generation of shows.
       | 
       | C) I just _have_ to nitpick this to defend my buddies:
       | Modern birds have some of the most advanced cognitive
       | capabilities in the animal kingdom, comparable only with mammals.
       | 
       | Maybe true for vertebrates, but octopuses deserve a spot on that
       | list!
        
         | NeuroCoder wrote:
         | The figures in the nature article are worth it. Even my non-
         | nerdy wife thought it was kind of interesting.
        
         | cryptica wrote:
         | Also cats are smarter than humans because they found a way to
         | enslave humanity without even having to pretend to care about
         | us. Dogs rank one level below, in that respect.
        
       | Sniffnoy wrote:
       | Reading this, I had to wonder what was "opposite" about these
       | "opposite birds". Apparently it's how the shoulder blade
       | (scapula) connects to the coracoid bone (a bone not present in
       | therian mammals). From Wikipedia's article on Enantiornithes:
       | 
       | > Specifically, in the Enantiornithes, the scapula is concave and
       | dish-shaped at this joint, and the coracoid is convex. In modern
       | birds, the coracoscapular joint has a concave coracoid and convex
       | scapula.
        
         | abc_lisper wrote:
         | Enantiornithes is a huge family. Kinda suprising why they
         | didn't survive the meteor but birds did
        
           | fsckboy wrote:
           | > _Almost all [Enantiornithes]_ retained teeth and clawed
           | fingers on each wing, _but otherwise looked much like modern
           | birds externally_
           | 
           | I must say, I don't miss them.
        
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