[Geology2] Archaeopteryx was first bird after all!

I love when that happens . . .

Archaeopteryx was first bird after all
PhysOrg.com [USA], October 26, 2011

The crown of the famous 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx fossil as the
first bird has been restored by a new evolutionary tree. In a study
published today in the journal Biology Letters, Australian researchers
say the feathered fossil is indeed of the first known bird, despite
another study earlier this year suggesting otherwise. Archaeopteryx had
been considered for 150 years to be the first known bird since the first
complete specimen was found in Germany in 1861, revealing a combination
of reptilian and and bird features. But Chinese researchers asserted
recently that a new and closely related fossil, Xiaotingia zhengi, was a
bird-like dinosaur - therefore suggesting that Archaeopteryx was also a
dinosaur. However, the new study, led by Dr Michael Lee, of the South
Australian Museum, used a more detailed analyis to show that
Archaeopteryx was a bird.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-10-archaeopteryx-bird.html

Also:

Teeth study shows big dinosaurs trekked for food [Who could blame them?]
PhysOrg.com [USA], October 26, 2011

What did giant plant-munching dinosaurs do when they couldn't find
enough to eat in the parched American West? They hit the road. An
analysis of fossilized teeth adds further evidence that the long-necked
dinosaurs called sauropods - the largest land creatures - went on road
trips to fill their gargantuan appetites. Scientists have long theorized
that sauropods foraged for precious resources during droughts because of
their preserved tracks and long limbs that were "ideal moving machines"
and allowed them to cover long distances, said paleobiologist Matthew
Bonnan of Western Illinois University. The latest study is the best
evidence yet that at least one kind of sauropod "took to the hills in
search of food when times got tough in the lowlands," said
paleontologist Kristi Curry Rogers at Macalester College in Minnesota.
The new work, published online Wednesday by the journal Nature, was led
by geologist Henry Fricke of Colorado College.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-10-teeth-big-dinosaurs-trekked-food.html

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