Crocodiles
Today the important issue seems to be specifically which dinosaurs are the closest relatives of birds. The controversy over the dinosaurian status of birds had its heyday in the 1970's, but the coverage of the issue today by the press might make you think it was still a problematic matter. There are numerous skeletal resemblances between birds and other reptiles; these form the basis of the cladistic analyses done by Gauthier and others. Coelurosaurian dinosaurs are thought to be the closest relatives of birds, in fact, birds are considered to be coelurosaurs. Ask your average paleontologist who is familiar with the phylogeny of vertebrates and they will probably tell you that yes, birds (avians) are dinosaurs. Using proper terminology, birds are avian dinosaurs; other dinosaurs are non-avian dinosaurs, and (strange as it may sound) birds are technically considered reptiles. There are numerous skeletal resemblances between birds and other reptiles; these form the basis of the cladistic analyses done by Gauthier and others. Coelurosaurian dinosaurs are thought to be the closest relatives of birds, in fact, birds are considered to be coelurosaurs. The Dodo bird or Raphus Cucullatus was a flightless bird native to the island of Mauritius, near the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The closest relatives to the dodo bird are pigeons and doves, even though dodo birds were much larger in size. On average, dodo birds stood 3 feet tall and weighted about 40 lb. Unfortunately, due to aggressive human population, dodo birds became extinct in late 17th century.  The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Its closest genetic relative was the also extinct Rodrigues solitaire, the two forming the subfamily Raphinae of the family of pigeons and doves. The closest extant relative of the dodo is the Nicobar pigeon. A white dodo was once incorrectly thought to have existed on the nearby island of Reunion. réunion The closest extant relative of the dodo is the Nicobar pigeon. A white dodo was once incorrectly thought to have existed on the nearby island of Reunion. Réunion subfossil remains show the dodo was about 1 (metre 3 ft 3) in tall and may have weighed.10–6.21 1 (kg–23 47) lb in the. wild They were fast-running and flightless, just like ostriches are. And their island home of Madagascar was just a short distance from mainland Africa, where ostriches live. If you had to put money on the identity of the elephant birds’ closest living relative, the ostrich would be a safe bet. It would also be a spectacularly wrong one. Elephant birds have been extinct for centuries, but many of their skeletons reside in museums around the world. Stranger still, the closest relatives of the small, partridge-like tinamous are the huge, towering moas —a fact that Allan Baker from the Royal Ontario Museum confirmed earlier this month. Cooper’s discovery mirrors the moa-tinamou relationship. It is now widely held to be the ancestor of all living birds; this is a common misconception. In fact, recent expeditions in China, Mongolia, Madagascar, Argentina, and elsewhere may uncover dinosaurs that usurp the urvogel status of Archaeopteryx. There are numerous skeletal resemblances between birds and other reptiles; these form the basis of the cladistic analyses done by Gauthier and others. Coelurosaurian dinosaurs are thought to be the closest relatives of birds, in fact, birds are considered to be coelurosaurs. Crocodiles are the closest living relatives of birds but compared with their feathered cousins are stuck in the past, new research has shown. Both groups share a common ancestor that lived around 240 million years ago and also gave rise to the dinosaurs. Crocodiles are the closest living relatives of birds, but while one species has flown the other has crawled, scientists say. Crocodiles have been found to have an unusually slow rate of genetic evolution Photo: Alamy Credit: Brian Choo. View full size image. After sequencing and analyzing genetic data from two species of elephant bird, scientists unexpectedly discovered the closest living relative of these birds is actually the small kiwi, and not the large ostrich, to which the elephant birds bear a closer physical resemblance. These birds' ancestors were once even larger, such as the elephant bird, which stood 10 feet (3 meters) tall, and the moa, which could grow nearly as large. However, not all ratites are big; smaller ones include the chicken-sized kiwi.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html http://www.dodobird.net/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo_bird http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/22/the-surprising-closest-relative-of-the-huge-elephant-birds/ http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/avians.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/evolution/11288900/Crocodiles-are-stuck-in-the-past-compared-to-their-bird-relatives.html http://www.livescience.com/45824-evolution-of-flightless-birds.html
what are birds closest relatives