STL Science Center

STL Science Center

05 June 2012

A Well Read Bird

I cannot even begin to make a list of papers showing and discussing Confuciusornis that would be short enough to make a post that was both interesting and concise. That is how much this bird has been studied in the past twenty years. Instead of, therefore, going through every single paper and discussing every abstract, allow me to make things a little simpler for us today my good friends.

First of all, papers on sexual dimorphism of Confuciusornis, because I do love the topic of anatomical ornamentation and the meanings of such ornamentations. In fact, I'll include the papers on ornamentation as well.
1. Sexual size dimorphism
2. Life history and ornamental feathers

Second, papers on the diet and paleobiology of Confuciusornis. These papers describe the bones, anatomy overall, and the diet of Confuciusornis as found when studying the fossils of these birds.
1. Functional morphometric analysis
2. Paleobiology of Confuciusornis
3. Life history of a basal bird
4. Diet evidence in fossils of Confuciusornis
5. Comparison of Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx

In this miscellaneous category I am placing three papers. One is a legal study of Confuciusornis and Chinese law and their impacts upon the study of Confuciusornis. Another is about the wings and flight mechanics of birds while the last one is about creation of a new genus from a previously assigned Confuciusornis species.
1. Chinese law and Confuciusornis
2. Avian wing formation
3. New species study

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