Latest news with #Baminornis
The Star
28-05-2025
- Science
- The Star
Study says new Jurassic bird fossil is 'missing link'
BEIJING: A groundbreaking fossil discovery in Zhenghe county, Fujian province, has reshaped our understanding of avian origins. Scientists identified Baminornis zhenghensis, a 150-million-year-old bird species from the late Middle Jurassic, as the oldest unambiguous Jurassic bird fossil ever found. Published in Nature earlier this year, the study by a joint team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Fujian Institute of Geological Survey reveals this species as a pivotal "missing link" in bird evolution. The fossil, unearthed in Zhenghe's swampy deposits in November 2023, showcases a pygostyle — a fused tailbone central to modern birds' flight mechanics. This feature shifts a bird's center of gravity, enabling precise aerial control. Previously, such advanced traits were believed to have emerged much later. Unlike Archaeopteryx, a feathered dinosaur with a reptilian tail, Baminornis bridges the anatomical gap between dinosaurs and true birds. The Zhenghe Fauna, a lush Jurassic wetland ecosystem teeming with diverse life, offers unprecedented insights into post-dinosaur evolution. "This discovery rewrites textbooks, showing birds' dinosaurian roots and their leap from land to sky," said CAS academician Xu Xing. Researchers continue exploring Zhenghe's fossil beds, hinting that even older avian ancestors may await discovery. As science peels back layers of time, one truth remains: evolution's story is ever-unfolding. - China Daily/ANN
USA Today
04-03-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Scientists found a fossil of a Jurassic bird. Here's how it could rewrite history.
Scientists found a fossil of a Jurassic bird. Here's how it could rewrite history. Show Caption Hide Caption Massive stegosaurus fossil that sold for $44.6M goes on public display Apex, a stegosaurus fossil, was lent to the American Museum of Natural History for public display after selling for over $40 million. 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. More: What lies at the center of the Earth? The answer keeps changing. Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences unearthed the fossil in 2023 while conducting field work in the coastal Fujian Province of China where more than 100 other fossils have been found. The study was published in the journal Nature last month. 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. More: A dinosaur museum in an unlikely place Edward Braun, a professor of biology at the University of Florida who has studied the evolution of birds, said the study's findings suggest that there was a 'much earlier diversification of birds with these modern features' than previously thought, pushing back the timeline of bird evolution. 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. Until Baminornis, the only known birds with shorter tails were believed to have lived about 20 million years later. The fact that the Baminornis and Archaeopteryx lived during the same period more than 5,000 miles apart from one another and each with unique features suggests that some bird evolution had already occurred in the Jurassic Period, the study states. Discovery: Powerful 'ghost particle' with clues about the universe Braun, who was not part of the study and focuses his research on bird genome evolution, told USA TODAY discovering when species morphed helps scientists understand changes in DNA. While he said he doesn't necessarily think news of the Baminornis will change the understanding of the bird genome, he said it will contribute to our broader knowledge about the history of life. 'Understanding how the universe works, how life changed over time, gives us a lot of perspective,' Braun said. 'It gives us a framework to understand how life has changed.'
The Independent
14-02-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Jurassic fossil rewrites what we thought we knew about bird evolution
A quail-sized bird fossil discovered in southeastern China is reshaping our understanding of avian evolution. The fossil, dating back 150 million years to the Jurassic Period, reveals a surprisingly modern bird for its age. Named Baminornis zhenghensis, this newfound species shares the title of oldest-known bird with Archaeopteryx, discovered in Germany in 1861. However, despite their shared antiquity, Baminornis, measuring about six inches long, exhibits significantly more advanced anatomical features and superior flight capabilities compared to the crow-sized Archaeopteryx, a creature often described as a transitional form between reptiles and birds. A key difference lies in their tails. Archaeopteryx possessed a long, bony tail reminiscent of predatory dinosaurs like Velociraptor. Baminornis, on the other hand, sported a shortened tail characteristic of modern birds. This adaptation is crucial for aerodynamics, shifting the body's center of gravity forward, closer to the wings, and enhancing flight. The stark anatomical contrast between these two earliest-known birds, coupled with their geographical distance – separated by approximately 5,500 miles – suggests that avian evolution had already been underway for millions of years before their emergence. This discovery pushes back the timeline of bird development, highlighting a richer and more complex evolutionary history than previously understood. Birds evolved from small feathered dinosaurs. Based on the new discovery, the first birds arose 172-164 million years ago, millions of years earlier than previously believed, according to paleontologist Min Wang of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. 'Baminornis zhenghensis looks more like modern birds than Archaeopteryx,' Wang said, calling its discovery 'a landmark to me and other evolutionary biologists.' Until now, Archaeopteryx was the only unquestionable bird known from the Jurassic, which ended roughly 145 million years ago. 'This fossil (Baminornis) indicates that Jurassic birds probably already had a global distribution and were much more diversified than previously thought,' said paleontologist and study co-author Zhonghe Zhou of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in China. The Baminornis fossil was discovered in 2023 during scientific fieldwork in Fujian Province's Zhenghe County. The fossil preserves much of the bird's skeleton but lacks the skull, leaving a gap in the understanding of its diet and lifestyle that could be interpreted from its jaws and teeth. Wang said Baminornis probably had teeth, as did Archaeopteryx. Until now, the oldest-known birds with short tails lived about 20 million years later than Baminornis, including Eoconfuciusornis, Protopteryx, Cruralispennia and Archaeornithura. Unlike Archaeopteryx, Baminornis has a pygostyle - a bone plate formed by fused vertebrae at the end of the vertebral column. 'A short tail ending with a pygostyle is a universal feature of extant birds. It provides attachment for fan-shaped tail feathers facilitating more sophisticated and powerful flight,' Zhou said. The pectoral and pelvic bones of Baminornis also were more like modern birds than Archaeopteryx. Baminornis did share some primitive characteristics with Archaeopteryx, such as clawed dinosaurian hands. The researchers found during the same fieldwork a solitary wishbone that was more advanced than that of Archaeopteryx and dating to the same time as Baminornis, but apparently belonging to yet another early bird species. With such incomplete remains, the researchers did not give this apparent new species a name. Baminornis lived in a swampy area alongside the meat-eating dinosaur Fujianvenator as well as various semi-aquatic reptiles, turtles and fish, based on other fossils found in the area. The 19th century discovery of Archaeopteryx, now known from about a dozen specimens, lent support to British naturalist Charles Darwin's ideas about evolution and provided evidence that today's birds descended from dinosaurs. Archaeopteryx was, as University of Edinburgh paleontologist Steve Brusatte put it, 'the textbook example of a creature caught in the act of evolution, like a freeze frame.' 'Yet, for more than 150 years now, Archaeopteryx had stood alone. During all of that time it had remained as the only unquestionable bird fossil from the Jurassic Period,' said Brusatte, who wrote a commentary accompanying the Baminornis study. 'Baminornis tells us that a variety of birds lived during the Jurassic, and they flew in different ways. There was a bevy of birds flying overhead of Allosaurus and Stegosaurus and Brontosaurus and the other iconic Jurassic dinosaurs,' Brusatte added.
South China Morning Post
14-02-2025
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Why this Jurassic bird fossil from China might rewrite evolutionary history
Chinese palaeontologists have found what could be the world's oldest bird fossil, a 'landmark' find that could shed light on one of the most important chapters in evolutionary history. Advertisement The fossil of the short-tailed bird – the first uncovered from the Jurassic period – was discovered in Zhenghe county in the southeast Chinese province of Fujian, and dates back about 150 million years. 'The discovery of [Baminornis zhenghensis] pushes back the first appearance of short-tailed birds by approximately 20 million years,' the researchers wrote in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on Thursday. Baminornis had the advanced chest and short tail found in modern birds, but the forelimb shape of raptor dinosaurs. The bird may have weighed 140-300 grams (4.9-10.6 ounces), or about the same as a pigeon. The discovery could help researchers understand one of the most significant evolutionary transitions – from bipedal theropod dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus to birds. Advertisement '[This] critical stage of evolution has long been clouded by the rare and spatiotemporally limited fossil record,' the team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' (CAS) Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology and the Fujian Institute of Geological Survey wrote.
NBC News
13-02-2025
- Science
- NBC News
Chinese fossil of a Jurassic bird rewrites history of avian evolution
The fossil of a Jurassic bird unearthed in southeastern China has major implications for the history of avian evolution, researchers say. The newly discovered Baminornis zhenghensis, a quail-sized bird, roamed the skies some 150 million years ago during the Jurassic period, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, meaning it is among the oldest birds known to mankind, along with the iconic Archaeopteryx that was discovered in Germany in 1862 and is of similar age. "For more than 150 years now, Archaeopteryx has stood alone," said Steve Brusatte, a University of Edinburgh paleontologist who wrote a commentary accompanying the study. "During all of that time, it has remained as the only unquestionable bird fossil from the Jurassic Period," he told NBC News in an email. While there were other bird-like Jurassic fossils found here and there, Brusatte said there was a "huge mystery and a frustrating gap" in the fossil record: If Archaeopteryx was flying by then, other birds must have been too. So where were their fossils? The 2023 discovery of Baminornis in Zhenghe county in China's Fujian province, now among the most important discoveries since Archaeopteryx, helps fill that gap, he said, making it the "second unquestioned bird from the Jurassic Period." Unlike the half-bird, half-reptile Archaeopteryx, which had a long and skinny tail similar to that of a velociraptor, Baminornis had a short tail with some of its vertebrae fused into a short, stubby nubbin called a pygostyle — a crucial aerodynamic feature that pushes the body's center of mass toward the wings, similar to those in modern-day birds that helps them fly better. Until the discovery of Baminoris, short tails had been found only in birds known to have lived around 20 million years later, such as Eoconfuciusornis and Protopteryx. "What excites me most is that it is a more advanced bird than Archaeopteryx, and it could fly much better," Brusatte said. Baminoris was much more anatomically complex than Archaeopteryx, which Brusatte said was a "primitive" bird with claws and sharp teeth like its dinosaur ancestors. Archaeopteryx, which played a crucial role in determining that today's birds evolved from dinousaurs, was a "textbook example of a creature caught in the act of evolution like a freeze frame," he added. The vast difference between the two similarly aged birds, discovered about 5,500 miles apart, has led the team behind the Nature study to believe that avian evolution occurred millions of years earlier than previously thought, with the estimate now at about 172-164 million years ago. In addition to dozens of fossils of aquatic or semi-aquatic animals, the Zhenghe Fauna collection includes at least three avialan fossils so far. The researchers said that suggests the collection holds great potential to "enrich our understanding of early bird diversification" and "fill a critical gap in the evolutionary history of terrestrial ecosystem" toward the end of the Jurassic period. Though the Baminornis fossil preserved much of the skeleton, the feathers were not preserved, leaving unanswered questions about the size and structure of its wings. It was also missing the skull, limiting clues about the bird's diet. Nevertheless, "Baminornis tells us that a variety of birds lived during the Jurassic, and they flew in different ways," Brusatte said.
