Introducing Archaeornithura meemannae , a newly discovered species that is now the oldest - known member of an evolutionary branch that let in all go birds .
A.meemannae lived about 130 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period . It ’s now the earliest member of the Ornithuromorpha clade ever retrieve , and its uncovering is setting back the evolutionary origin of birds by at least six million age . What ’s more , because the snort is so incredibly dame - like and with very few primitive features , the scientist who analyzed the two fossil samples say there should be even older examples buried away somewhere in the fogey record . The results of their analysis now appear inNature Communications .
Asreportedin the BBC , the researchers found the fossils in the Sichakou Basin of northeastern China . This diminutive bird , which tolerate 15 cm tall , is thought to have had bare legs , which suggests it wad in the weewee . The sizing and shape of the bones stand for A.meemannae may have been subject of agile flight .
As is well know , birds began to evolve from dinosaurs at the end of the Jurassic menstruum some 150 million years ago . 20 million years later , at least two unlike clade of early birds co - existed : Ornithuromorpha , which gave rise to mod birds , and Enantiornithes , a now extinct clade of hiss that vaunt tooth and clawed wing . And if the advanced features of the newly discovered bird is of any indication , it was one of many different type of Ornithuromorpha around during the Late Cretaceous .
Check out the scientific study at Nature : “ The oldest phonograph recording of ornithuromorpha from the early cretaceous of China ” .
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BiologyBirdsCretaceousPaleontologyScience
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