The Scientist Is In: The Mysterious Modern Dinosaurs

Thursday, May 27, 2021

2–2:45 pm ET

Profile view of a cassowary, which features a horn-like brown casque on top of its head.
The southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius).
Courtesy of S. dosRemedios/Flickr
What are cassowaries, and how did they evolve to look the way they do? 

Museum researcher Todd Green studies the peculiar skull features, called casques, of these non-flying birds from Australia and New Guinea. Although still a mystery to be solved, the anatomy of these modern dinosaurs may provide insight into the bizarre appearances of some of the most fascinating extinct dinosaurs, as well as into other evolutionary enigmas.