Birds have paedomorphic dinosaur skulls

The bird skull arose from the nonavian dinosaur skull by several episodes of paedomorphosis, in which descendants resemble the juveniles of their ancestors, according to a study of shape change during dinosaur ontogeny and phylogeny. Much of what makes birds so different from other animals relates to the skull, specialized in birds to accommodate the visual and neuromuscular systems needed to coordinate flight and vision, and an ultra-adaptable...