University of Michigan researchers have used an AI tool to demonstrate that birds in the group Passeriformes evolved in rapid evolutionary bursts and that these bursts frequently coincided with climate shifts throughout Earth’s history. University of Michigan researchers have used an AI tool to demonstrate that birds in the group Passeriformes evolved in rapid evolutionary bursts and that these bursts frequently coincided with climate shifts throughout Earth’s history. Evolutionary theory predicts that the evolution of organisms occurs in pulsed bursts followed by slowdowns—something researchers have seen hints of in the fossil record. Now, looking at passerines, University of Michigan researchers have identified these evolutionary bursts by examining data gleaned from skeletal measurements of contemporary bird specimens. University of Michigan researchers found that birds in the group Passeriformes evolved in rapid bursts that coincided with climatic shifts.