Dinosaur feathers hint at flight history
Science Sessions are brief conversations with cutting-edge researchers, National Academy members, and policymakers as they discuss topics relevant to today's scientific community. Learn the behind-the-scenes story of work published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), plus a broad range of scientific news about discoveries that affect the world around us.
In this episode, Jingmai O’Connor and Yosef Kiat share insights gleaned from modern birds’ feathers that help understand the evolutionary history of flight in dinosaurs.
In this episode, we cover:
•[00:00] Introduction
•[01:02] Jingmai O’Connor, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Field Museum of Natural History, describes the characteristics of feathers associated with flight.
•[02:11] O’Connor gives context and background for previous knowledge of the evolution of flight feathers in dinosaurs.
•[03:25] O’Connor describes the sources of fossil specimens for analysis of feather evolution.
•[04:29] Yosef Kiat, an ornithologist at the Field Museum of Natural History, tells what he learned about the consistent number of primary feathers in modern birds. He also tells how that number applies to dinosaurs.
•[05:54] O’Connor explains what the symmetry of feathers reveals about a species’ flight ability and history.
•[06:29] Kiat applies feather symmetry to explain the flight evolutionary history of Caudipteryx.
•[07:05] Kiat summarizes the findings of the study, using feather number and shape to assess the flight abilities of four genera of dinosaurs.
•[07:47] Kiat and O’Connor describe the type of potential fossil evidence that could fill in holes in the history of flight evolution in dinosaurs.
•[08:42] Kiat and O’Connor explain the study’s caveats and limitations.
•[09:44] Conclusion.
About Our Guests:
Jingmai O’Connor
Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL
Yosef Kiat
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL
View related content here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2306639121
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts for more captivating discussions on scientific breakthroughs!
Visit Science Sessions on PNAS.org: https://www.pnas.org/about/science-sessions-podcast
Follow PNAS:
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PNASNews
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PNASNews/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/pnas-news/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/pnas-news
Sign up the Highlights newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/nas/podcast-highlights
Bacterial invisible ink
Gatekeepers of our immune system
Thwarting dengue transmission
Cancer immunotherapy comes of age
Revolutionizing microscopy
Making physics palatable
The benefits of gut bacteria
Sackler Colloquium on the science of science communication
Making improved antibodies against HIV
Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winner Roland Kanaar
Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winner Merlin Hanauer
Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winner Jacob Waldbauer
Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winners Robert Saye and James Sethian
Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winner James Smith
Interview with Cozzarelli Prize winners Erica Machlin Cox and Selena Sagan
Life's building blocks
The science of sleep
Rebooting damaged vocal cords
Drivers of embryonic development
Stem cells and diabetes
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
DNA Today: A Genetics Podcast
The Psychic Elephant Radio Podcast
Museum of the Missing
Sasquatch Chronicles
Hidden Brain