Chinese Fossil Discovery Sheds Light on Bird Evolution

The recent discovery of the fossilized bird Baminornis zhenghensis in China's Fujian Province has significant implications for the understanding of avian evolution. This fossil, dating back approximately 150 million years, features a pygostyle, a short tail structure found in modern birds, suggesting that such advanced features evolved nearly 20 million years earlier than previously thought. This challenges the long-held notion that Archaeopteryx was the only Jurassic bird, proposing that bird diversification began in the Jurassic period. The fossil displays a blend of primitive and modern traits, such as a bird-like shoulder and pelvic girdle alongside a dinosaur-like hand, supporting the concept of mosaic evolution in early birds and filling a critical gap in the evolutionary timeline. The findings, published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provide new insights into the origin and diversification of birds during the late Jurassic period.