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SCIENCE-ANIMAL-US-CHINA-BIRDS-FILES
(FILES) This June 21, 2014 file photo shows flamingos in their enclosure at the zoo in Prague, Czech Republic. Birds use essentially the same genes to sing as humans do to speak. And flamingos are more closely related to pigeons than they are to pelicans. These are some of the unusual discoveries that have emerged from the largest, most sophisticated mapping of the bird family tree, published in more than two dozen separate papers, eight of which are in the December 12 issue of the US journal Science. Researchers in 20 nations spent four years on the project to sequence the entire genomes of 48 species of birds, including owls, hummingbirds, penguins and woodpeckers. They also compared birds to three different species of crocodiles -- which are the reptiles most closely related to birds -- and found vastly different rates of evolution.
The birds were much faster at evolving new traits, while crocodiles -- which shared a common ancestor with birds and dinosaurs about 240 million years ago -- have barely changed at all. AFP PHOTO / MICHAL CIZEK.
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Detalii fotografie |
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Prague, BOHEME, CZECH REPUBLIC |
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AFP / Mediafax Foto |
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| Fotograf: |
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MICHAL CIZEK |
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| Data: |
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11 Decembrie 2014 |
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2888 x 1824 (786.81 KB) |
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