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Tracing the evolution of avian wing digits

Xing Xu1, Susan Mackem

  • 1Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044 China. xu.xing@ivpp.ac.cn

Current Biology : CB
|June 22, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Birds evolved from dinosaurs, but their finger digits present a puzzle. Research suggests homeotic transformations, or piecemeal changes in digit identity, likely explain this evolutionary quirk in avian wing development.

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