Sep 26, 2018 by News Staff
/ Source
Paleontologists have found the
remains — the well-preserved complete skeleton and feathers — of a short-tailed
bird that lived 127 million years ago (Early Cretaceous epoch) in northeastern
China.
The ancient bird, dubbed Jinguofortis perplexus, had a body mass
of 250 g, a wing span of 27.5 inches (70 cm), and a unique combination of
traits.
“This fossil bird had a jaw with
small teeth like their theropod dinosaur relatives,” explained Dr. Zhonghe
Zhou, a researcher in the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and
Paleoanthropology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“It also had a short bony tail
ending in a compound bone called a pygostyle (that evolved after the earliest
known bird, Archaeopteryx); gizzard stones showing that it mostly ate
plants; and a third finger with only two bones in it (unlike other early
birds).”
Based on its skeleton and
feathers, Jinguofortis perplexus probably
flew a bit differently than birds do today.
“In flying birds, the shoulder,
which experiences high stress during flight, is a tight joint between unfused
bones,” the paleontologists said.
“In contrast, Jinguofortis perplexus preserves a
shoulder girdle where the major bones of the shoulder, the shoulder blade
(scapula) and the coracoid, are fused to one another, forming a
scapulocoracoid.”
No comments:
Post a Comment