Whose name is linked to the tiny ear bones birds inherited from dinosaur ancestors?

Birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs, and that ancestry is supported by fossils, feathers and skeletal features. While birds themselves do not have a person’s name attached to their ear bones, the broader evolutionary story was established through work by scientists such as Thomas Henry Huxley in the 19th century and many later paleontologists. Bird anatomy preserves many dinosaur traits, including a lightweight skeleton and certain bone arrangements. This makes birds the living dinosaurs in modern biology.