WIRE — A new August 2026 study may have solved the long-standing mystery of how the first birds took flight. Researchers from the University of Southampton and Paris's National Natural History Museum used 3D models and billions of simulations to study Archaeopteryx, which lived around 150 million years ago. Their findings suggest it could not launch like modern birds, but instead used rapid two-legged jumps, relying heavily on its legs before transitioning to sustained wing-assisted flight.
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