When most people think of dinosaurs, they usually think of overgrown reptiles. However, ever since I took an upper-level geology class freshman year, I’ve known that most dinosaurs are actually more closely related to birds than reptiles. A recent study examined the skulls of modern day birds, birds’ intermediate ancestors, and dinosaurs and were able to show that birds have structural similarities in their skulls to baby dinosaurs. The authors conclude that birds evolved by slowing down development, and basically maintaining the juvenile characteristics of baby dinosaurs into adulthood. It’s pretty neat!