Evidence for a single loss of mineralized teeth in the common avian ancestor

Edentulism, the absence of teeth, has evolved convergently among vertebrates, including birds, turtles, and several lineages of mammals. Instead of teeth, modern birds (Neornithes) use a horny beak (rhamphotheca) and a muscular gizzard to acquire and process food. We performed comparative genomic an...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Meredith, R., Zhang, G., Gilbert, Thomas, Jarvis, E., Springer, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: The American Association for the Advancement of Science 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/29106