Archive · 17 Sep 2025
Ancient Ancestors of Flightless Birds Could Fly
Imagine a family of birds like ostriches and emus that can't fly.
Scientists were puzzled by how they spread across the world.
They studied fossils of their ancestors and found those birds could fly!
These ancestors lived millions of years ago.
The scientists believe the birds lost their ability to fly when predators disappeared and they could find food on the ground.
Over time, they adapted to running fast, like today's emus and ostriches, because they didn't need to fly.
Scientists studied how flightless birds, like ostriches, spread worldwide.
The study revealed that the oldest-known ancestors of these birds could fly.
Researchers analyzed a fossil of Lithornis promiscuus, an ancestor from the Paleogene period.
The ability to fly was determined by studying the fossil's breastbone.
Birds likely lost flight due to a lack of predators and abundant ground food.
- Who
- Scientists studying palaeognath bird family
- What
- Discovered ancestors of flightless birds could fly
- When
- Paleogene period (66-23 million years ago)
- Where
- Study based on fossil from Wyoming, USA
- Why
- To understand the evolution and spread of flightless birds
- Bird Family
- Palaeognaths (ostriches, emus, etc.)
- Oldest Ancestor Analyzed
- Lithornis promiscuus
- Time Period
- Paleogene (66-23 million years ago)
- Fossil Location
- Wyoming, USA
- Publication
- Royal Society's Biology Letters