A new study, led by the University of Adelaide's Alan Cooper, the director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, has solved a 150-year-old evolutionary mystery about the origin of a group of flightless birds called the ratites. The group includes some of the world's largest birds such the emu and the ostrich, and the extinct moa and elephant bird, as well as the kiwi. See the sister story 'Kiwi evolutionary history'.
5 Jun 2014
