Researchers sequenced the genomes of 48 bird and three crocodile species, revealing secrets of the dinosaurs.
The findings shed light on the evolution of living species that descended from dinosaurs that survived the mass extinction 66 million years ago, the University of Arizona reported.
To make their findings the researchers stored the genomic data on CoGe, a comparative genomics platform powered by the iPlant Collaborative. It is a freely accessible online platform that allows researchers to store and share entire genomes.
"CoGe can make everything more efficient so that you can find exactly what you're looking for and compare information between sequences," said University of Arizona associate professor Fiona McCarthy, a researcher in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The findings could help researchers gain insight into the evolution of bird behavior and could help provide insights into human health.
"We're looking to understand a lot about vertebrate evolution and development as a whole," McCarthy said. "By comparing genetic information between species on CoGe, researchers can use birds and other animals to understand more about human health and development."
The findings could lead to a number of new studies that could even lead to medical breakthroughs.
"Now we have so much data, but we've got to actually understand what it all means," McCarthy said. "This wealth of information will not only impact our research but also our teaching. We've got students working on this data, and new opportunities to work with high school students and their teachers on something interesting for them."
The bird and crocodile genome sequencing project was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in addition to grants to individual research groups.
The findings were published in the journals Science, Genome Biology and GigaScience.
