General Information and History
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 Diversity: 10,000 modern species living on every continent of the earth. There are two major subclasses, Achaeorintes (extinct, primitive birds) and Neorinthes (modern birds).
Common Characteristics: Beaks, wings, feathered bodies, scaled legs, egg-layers. Almost all fly; only 60 modern species and a few extinct ones do not. |
Birds are thought to be directly descendant from dinosaurs.
Bird species began to radiate in the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods, to eventual come to the diversity that we see today.  Archaeopteryx is one of the most well-known transistional fossils between dinosaurs and birds. |
