摘要
Editor＇s Note： The issue of avian digital homologies in avian origin research has long been puzzling paleontologists, and it is also one of the most controversial issues in evolutionary biology research. An inter national research team led by Prof. Xu Xing, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, proposed a new hypothesis for this study published in Nature on June 18. Meanwhile,
The issue of avian digital homologies in avian origin research has long been puzzling paleontologists, and it is also one of the most controversial issues in evolutionary biology research.An international research team led by Prof.Xu Xing,Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. Chinese Academy of Sciences and winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, proposed a new hypothesis for this study published in Nature on June 18.Meanwhile,National Science Foundation of the United States also announced this result in the front page of its official website and accepted relevant interviews.Dr.H.Richard Lane,program director in the Division of Earth Sciences of NSFC commented on this research on dinosaurs saying that it provides a whole new perspective on the evolution of bird manual digits.It is expected that this research will remove contradictions in avian digital homologies between paleontological and modern developmental data.
