Fossil sheds light on early bird brains

A remarkably well-preserved three-dimensional fossil has allowed researchers to digitally reconstruct the brain of an ancient bird species, the newly designated Navaornis hestiae. The starling-sized bird lived around 80 million years ago, a period from which 3D bird skulls have been difficult to find. The reconstruction gives researchers a glimpse of a stage of avian brain evolution between the earliest known birds and those alive today, partially filling in what was a knowledge gap of 70 million years.