Scientists found a fossil of a Jurassic bird. It could rewrite history.
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Scientists found a fossil of a Jurassic bird. It could rewrite history.
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Scientists uncovered a 149-million-year-old bird fossil in southeastern China with unexpectedly modern traits they believe could rewrite the evolutionary history of birds.

The recently discovered quail-sized creature, called Baminornis zhenghensis, flew through the skies when dinosaurs roamed the earth and is among the oldest birds ever discovered, along with the similarly aged Archaeopteryx that was found in Germany in the 1860s. The Archaeopteryx, a bird-like dinosaur that scientists describe as more reptilian-like than modern birds, were about the size of a crow.



Steve Brusatte, a University of Edinburgh paleontologist, called Baminornis a “landmark discovery” in a commentary published in Nature alongside the study. The finding, he wrote, is among the first proof that birds lived alongside dinosaurs during the Jurassic Period. The finding helps scientists answer longstanding questions about when birds began to diversify into the flying animals we think of today.

When the Archaeopteryx was discovered around 1861, it was heralded as evidence that birds were soaring in the skies by the end of the Jurassic Period. Charles Darwin said the discovery supported his theory of natural selection. But for more than a century, it remained the only bird fossil from that era.

Unlike the Archaeopteryx, which featured more reptilian traits and a long tail similar to that of a velociraptor, researchers today believe the Baminornis' light-weight structure and shorter tail make it more similar to modern-day birds that easily fly by flapping their wings through the air.

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By Karissa Waddick  
USA TODAY

The 149-million-year-old fossil is helping scientists answer longstanding evolutionary questions.

The 149-million-year-old fossil is helping scientists answer longstanding evolutionary questions.

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