New Fossils from China Fill Gap in Early Evolutionary History of Birds – Sci.News

Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of two Jurassic bird species at a locality in Zhenghe county, Fujian province, southeast China. These 149-million-year-old fossils demonstrate the early appearance of highly derived bird features, and together with another bird fossil from the same locality, they suggest an earlier origin of birds and a radiation of early birds in the Jurassic.Baminornis zhenghensis. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.“Birds are the most diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates,” Professor Min Wang from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues said in a statement.“Certain macroevolutionary studies suggest that their earliest diversification dates back to the Jurassic period.”“However, the earliest evolutionary history of birds has long been obscured by a highly fragmentary fossil record, with Archaeopteryx being the only widely accepted Jurassic bird.”“Although Archaeopteryx had feathered wings, it closely resembled non-avialan dinosaurs, notably due to its distinctive long, reptilian tail — a stark contrast to the short-tailed morphology of modern and Cretaceous birds.”“Recent studies have questioned the avialan status of Archaeopteryx, classifying it as a deinonychosaurian dinosaur, the sister group to birds.”“This raises the question of whether any unambiguous records of Jurassic birds exist.”In their new study, Professor Wang and co-authors discovered and examined the fossils of two early birds, which were part of the so-called Zhenghe biota.One of these birds, named Baminornis zhenghensis, is the earliest known short-tailed bird.“Baminornis zhenghensis has a short tail ending in a compound bone called the pygostyle, a feature also observed in living birds,” the paleontologists said.“Previously, the oldest record of short-tailed birds is from the Early Cretaceous.”“Baminornis zhenghensis is the sole Jurassic and the oldest short-tailed bird yet discovered, pushing back the appearance of this derived bird feature by nearly 20 million years.”According to the team, Baminornis zhenghensis also represents one of the oldest known birds.“If we take a step back, and reconsider the phylogenetic uncertainty of Archaeopteryx, we do not doubt that Baminornis zhenghensis is the true Jurassic bird,” said Dr. Zhonghe Zhou, also from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.The second, unnamed bird is represented by a single fossilized furcula (wishbone).“Our results support the referral of this furcula to Ornithuromorpha, a diverse group of Cretaceous birds,” the researchers said.The team’s work was published today in the journal Nature._____R. Chen et al. 2025. Earliest short-tailed bird from the Late Jurassic of China. Nature 638, 441-448; doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08410-z

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