Birds are dinosaurs. A couple of decades of revealing finds and careful phylogenetic work have shown that birds are nested within the group of small, mostly predatory, and running dinosaurs that includes dromaeosaurs and troodontids, among others (1). Now, scientists are using that phylogenetic tapestry to trace the evolution of traits such as sensory biology and behavior. Two studies in this issue pair cutting-edge imaging with sophisticated statistical analyses to explore the evolution of the hearing apparatus and other sensory systems. On page 601, Hanson et al. (2) show that the inner ear of dinosaurs, as well as that of other archosaurs (the group that includes crocodilians, dinosaurs, and birds), provides clues to locomotion, hearing, and the evolution of vocalization. On page 610, Choiniere et al. (3) examine the inner ear and also aspects of the visual system to demonstrate the notably owl-like nocturnal adaptations of one group of birdlike dinosaurs.

鸟类是恐龙。几十年的发现发现和认真的系统发育研究表明，鸟类被筑巢在小型的，大多数是掠食性的，奔跑的恐龙群中，其中包括陀螺和长齿类恐龙（1）。现在，科学家正在使用这种系统发育挂毯来追踪诸如感官生物学和行为等特征的演变。本期的两项研究将前沿影像与复杂的统计分析结合在一起，以探索助听器和其他感觉系统的发展。在第601页，Hanson等人。（2）表明，恐龙的内耳以及其他恐龙（包括鳄鱼，恐龙和鸟类的内耳）为运动，听力和发声的发展提供了线索。在第610页上，Choiniere等人。（3）检查内耳以及视觉系统的各个方面，以证明一组鸟类般的恐龙的猫头鹰般的夜行性适应。