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Zygodactylus was an ancient animal that lived about 52,000,000 years ago. Here are pictures of a Zygodactylus fossil, a living chicken, and a living green basilisk.
A picture of a Zygodactylus fossil skeleton on a flat slab of rock. The fossil has a relatively long, curved neck and a round head with a pointy beak. Its forelimbs are wings that fold against its body. Its legs are long and thin, and it has long, skinny toes on each foot. It has a very short tail made of very few bones.
"Zygodactylus FMNH PA 726 - Smith et al 2018" by N. Adam Smith, Aj M. DeBee and Julia A. Clarke, N. Adam Smith, Aj M. DeBee and Julia A. Clarke: Systematics and phylogeny of the Zygodactylidae (Aves, Neognathae) with description of a new species from the early Eocene of Wyoming, USA. PeerJ 6, 2018, pp. e4950(fig. 2) doi:10.7717/peerj.4950 / CC BY-SA 4.0
A picture of three living chickens on dusty soil. Each chicken has a small head with a small beak, small eyes, and a crest at the top with folds of skin hanging below the beak. Their forelimbs are feathery wings. The front two chickens have their wings folded against their bodies, whereas the chicken behind the others is flapping its feathery wings to its sides. All of the chickens are walking on two legs, with toes on each of their feet. They have short tails with long plumes of feathers sticking out from them.
A picture of a living green basilisk lizard on a tree branch. The basilisk has scaly skin and a very long tail. It has a tall, thin crest on its back and another one on top of its small head. It has scaly lips, rather than a beak. It has four legs with long toes on each foot. Its legs extend out to the sides to hold the lizard low to the ground.
Zygodactylus
Chicken
Green basilisk
Which traits can you observe in the fossil of
Zygodactylus,
the living chicken, and the living green basilisk? Complete the table.
Zygodactylus
Chicken
Green basilisk
A beak
Forelimb wings that fold against its body
Toes on its feet
Walks on two legs
A long tail
Based on the table, which living animal shares more traits with
Zygodactylus?
ref_doc_title.

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