A new theory of the origin of birds, traditionally believed to be driven by the evolution of flight, is now being credited to the emergence of enlarged skeletal muscles in birds. Their upright ...

The power behind a ring dove’s trill belongs to the fastest class of vertebrate muscles known, reports a team of physiologists. This is the first demonstration of superfast muscles in a bird, the ...

New research challenges a long-held hypotheses about how flight first developed in birds. Research by post-doctoral fellow Alexander Dececchi challenges long-held hypotheses about how flight first ...

Hummingbirds are unique among birds for numerous reasons, and that also includes their backward flying capability. Like ...

Two species of small tropical birds called manakins can “clap” and “snap” their wings with incredible speed thanks to one of the fastest limb muscles ever known in vertebrates. And according to a new ...