Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Researchers inhibited a ...

Feathers are important for birds today, enabling flight, warmth, and communication. Now, researchers from the University of Geneva have traced the origin of feathers. Scientists believe feathers ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Humanity’s understanding of life was forever altered when ...

At first glance, feathers may seem like simple parts of a bird’s body. But if you look closer—under a microscope or through a scientific lens—they reveal an intricate story of evolution, biology, and ...

Birds are inextricably linked to feathers, which allow them to fly, keep warm and put on dramatic displays. Feathers, however, predate birds—having first belonged to extinct dinosaurs. Finding out ...

More than 99% of birds can fly. But that still leaves many species that evolved to be flightless, including penguins, ...

Maria McNamara receives funding from the European Research Council and Research Ireland. A delicate, innocuous little fossil reptile known as Mirasaura grauvogeli – “Grauvogel’s wonder reptile” – is ...

Avian plumage doesn’t simply enable flight–this miracle of Nature provides birds with protection, shape and colour and ...

More than 99% of birds can fly. But that still leaves many species that evolved to be flightless, including penguins, ostriches, and kiwi birds. In a new study in the journal Evolution, researchers ...