India, Aug. 3 -- Birds flying in today's skies are descendants of dinosaurs that once ruled the Earth. In The Story of Birds, Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist and professor at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and consultant on the Jurassic Park films, traces their evolution- from Archaeopteryx and feathered theropods to demon ducks and the birds we know today. Along the way, he reveals how discoveries in palaeontology have transformed our understanding of one of nature's greatest success stories. Excerpts:

Recently, the dinosaurian nature of birds received startling support from unexpected sources. Developmental biologists in the early twenty-first century invented new techniques for visualizing how embryos mature before hatching. These ...