Scientists have sequenced and recorded the genomes - the genetic make-up or "code of life" - of species from almost every branch of the bird family tree.
The 363 species' genomes, including 267 sequenced for the first time, are catalogued in the journal Nature.
It is a list that now features more than 92% of the world's avian families.
This has revealed the code for things "Darwin was intrigued by and wrote about", Dr Michael Braun from the Smithsonian Institution told BBC News.
From wildly different coloured feathers, body sizes ranging from the giant ostrich to the diminutive wren and raptor flight speeds of up to 300km/h [186.4mph], "it's all coded for in the genome", he said.
Full article here
The 363 species' genomes, including 267 sequenced for the first time, are catalogued in the journal Nature.
It is a list that now features more than 92% of the world's avian families.
This has revealed the code for things "Darwin was intrigued by and wrote about", Dr Michael Braun from the Smithsonian Institution told BBC News.
From wildly different coloured feathers, body sizes ranging from the giant ostrich to the diminutive wren and raptor flight speeds of up to 300km/h [186.4mph], "it's all coded for in the genome", he said.
Full article here