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In 1994, a Christian publication stated that the brain of an ''Archaeopteryx'' was essentially that of a flying bird, with a large cerebellum and visual cortex. The article argued that the fact that it had teeth is irrelevant to its alleged transitional status -- a number of extinct birds had teeth, while many reptiles do not. Furthermore, like other birds, both its maxilla (upper jaw) and mandible (lower jaw) moved. In most vertebrates, including many reptiles, only the mandible moves.<ref>D. Mentonand C. Wieland, "Bird Evolution Flies out the window," Creation Ex Nihilo, 16(4):16-19, September-November 1994.</ref>

In 1994, a Christian publication stated that the brain of an ''Archaeopteryx'' was essentially that of a flying bird, with a large cerebellum and visual cortex. The article argued that the fact that it had teeth is irrelevant to its alleged transitional status -- a number of extinct birds had teeth, while many reptiles do not. Furthermore, like other birds, both its maxilla (upper jaw) and mandible (lower jaw) moved. In most vertebrates, including many reptiles, only the mandible moves.<ref>D. Mentonand C. Wieland, "Bird Evolution Flies out the window," Creation Ex Nihilo, 16(4):16-19, September-November 1994.</ref>

Many of these arguements were recently refuted when CT scans of an ''Archaeopteryx'' braincase was compared to the brains of modern and more advanced fossil birds.  It was demonstrated that the brain of ''Archaeopteryx'' is not like modern birds.  Instead, the authors concluded that like its ankle, feet, and skull, the brain or ''Archaeopteryx'' is more like predatory dinosaurs than modern birds. <ref> Kurochkin, et al. "A fossil brain from the Cretaceous of European Russia and avian sensory evolution," The Royal Society Biology Letters, http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/(ovrnzmfyck1pbxfhjrjtxxeo)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,3,33;journal,1,11;linkingpublicationresults,1:110824,1 </ref>

Many of these arguements were recently refuted when CT scans of an ''Archaeopteryx'' braincase was compared to the brains of modern and more advanced fossil birds.  It was demonstrated that the brain of ''Archaeopteryx'' is not like modern birds.  Instead, the authors concluded that like its ankle, feet, and skull, the brain or ''Archaeopteryx'' is more like predatory dinosaurs than modern birds. <ref> Kurochkin, et al. "A fossil brain from the Cretaceous of European Russia and avian sensory evolution," The Royal Society Biology Letters, http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/(ovrnzmfyck1pbxfhjrjtxxeo)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,3,33;journal,1,11;linkingpublicationresults,1:110824,1 </ref> This suggests that ''Archaeopteryx'' does indeed represent an evolutionary missing link.

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