00:03birds are the modern descendants of dinosaurs however some birds were already around back when
00:08dinos still roam the earth and this is what experts are calling a one-of-a-kind fossil
00:13dating back 80 million years one which finally provides a better understanding of avians and
00:18their intelligence the creature which they have now named naviornis lived in what is now brazil
00:23and the fossil which was recovered is almost entirely intact which is why researchers were
00:28able to digitally reconstruct the creature's brain essentially filling in the 70 million year gap
00:32between this bird and the 150 million year old archaeopteryx experts discovered a larger cerebellum
00:38than its progenitor suggesting more advanced cognitive abilities however many other areas
00:43were actually less developed meaning it may have not had the same flying abilities as modern avian
00:47varieties with the researchers writing about it the brain structure of naviornis is almost exactly
00:52intermediate between archaeopteryx and modern birds it was one of these moments in which the missing
00:57piece fits absolutely perfectly with the researchers saying this advanced brain could have made them
01:02better at finding food and shelter or creating elaborate mating displays or other complex social
01:06behavior with the researchers adding this discovery shows that some of the birds flying over the heads
01:11of dinosaurs already had a fully modern skull geometry more than 80 million years ago
01:16so
01:16you
