Page 184 - The Origin of Birds and Flight

182 The Origin of Birds and Flight

caused it to stoop forward—a characteristic of dinosaurs—are not
confirmed by scientific findings. A. D. Walker has stated that interpreta-
tions along these lines are false and that Archaeopteryx’s skeletal struc-
ture, like a bird’s, predisposed it to lean backwards. 142
Dr. David refers to the avian skeletal structure:
There are also design similarities between reptiles, mammals and
living birds too. Birds have a distinctive, specialized skeleton because,
as one distinguished evolutionist who is also an ornithologist once
said, “Birds are formed to fly.” So was Archaeopteryx. 143

Archaeopteryx’s balancing ability
“Early Bird Had the Brains to Fly”, an article in the 6 August, 2004,
edition of Scientific American, stated that Archaeopteryx possessed the
special nervous system mechanisms needed for flight. When paleontol-
ogists discovered the first fossils belonging to this species in 1861, they
were thought to represent evidence for the theory of evolution, which
had been proposed less than a decade before. But scientific research
gradually revealed that this claim was false.
Timothy B. Rowe from the University of Texas and his team began
researching flight characteristics in a 147-million-year-old Archaeopteryx
fossil. Their three-dimensional investigations of the skull, using X-ray
imaging, revealed a well-developed visual center and inner ear canals
closely resembled those of flying birds. These structures enable the
balancing abilities that are essential for flight.
Lawrence M. Witmer of Ohio University says, “We used to think
that [only]feathers made the bird,” and goes on to say, “you have to put
in a big computer to fly.” 144 Scientists using advanced techniques to
study the Jurassic-period Archaeopteryx skull also stated in their research,
published in Nature magazine, that Archaeopteryx’s brain had similar
structures for flight and balance as do modern-day birds—and that this
150-million-year-old bird could definitely fly. 145
In the words of Dr. Angela Milner from London’s Natural History
Museum, Archaeopteryx’s brain is “identical” to that of birds. She recon-