A new AI app is helping to rewrite the evolution of flight.
The app, developed by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, has been used to analyse footprints made by dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago.
The results show that several tracks share ‘uncanny’ features with both extinct and modern birds.
According to the researchers, this suggests that birds could have originated 60 million years earlier than we thought.
‘This study is an exciting contribution for paleontology and an objective, data–driven way to classify dinosaur footprints – something that has stumped experts for over a century,’ said Professor Steve Brusatte, an author of the study.
‘It opens up exciting new possibilities for understanding how these incredible animals lived and moved, and when major groups like birds first evolved.
‘This computer network might have identified the world’s oldest birds, which I think is a fantastic and fruitful use for AI.’
A new AIapp is helping to rewrite the evolution of flight. The app, developed by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, has been used to analyse footprints made by dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago
While dinosaur footprints are an important indicator of our evolution, they’ve proved difficult to interpret.
Until now, scientists have largely relied on manual methods, which introduce an element of bias.
To rectify this issue, the team developed a new AI app dubbed the DinoTracker, which uses advanced algorithms to recognise dinosaur footprints.
To train the app, the researchers fed it nearly 2,000 fossil footprints alongside millions of variations to mimic changes such as compression and edge displacement.
Amazingly, tests have revealed that DinoTracker can now identify dinosaur footprints with 90 per cent accuarcy – even for contentious species.
One of the most interesting discoveries by the app was the resemblance between several dinosaur tracks and those left by birds.
According to the researchers, this either suggests that birds originated tens of millions of years earlier than thought, or that some dinosaurs had feet that resembled birds by coincidence.
The researchers also fed the AI app images of footprints from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, which have left scientists baffled.
One of the most interesting discoveries by the app was the uncanny resemblance between several dinosaur tracks and those left by birds
Its analysis suggests that the tracks may have been left around 170 million years ago by some of the oldest relatives of duck-billed dinosaurs.
Looking ahead, the researchers hope the tool will help to improve our understand of how dinosaurs lived and moved around the Earth.
Dr Gregor Hartmann of Helmholtz–Zentrum research centre, and co-author of the study, said: ‘Our method provides an unbiased way to recognize variation in footprints and test hypotheses about their makers.
‘It’s an excellent tool for research, education, and even fieldwork.’
