Sign In
Learn bits
Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

01/01/23 19:59 PM IST

Paleontologists Find Fossil of 119-Million-Year-Old Beaked Bird

In News
  • The fossil remains of a 119 million-year-old beaked bird were recently discovered in China.
Confuciusornis shifan
  • Confuciusornis shifan lived during the Early Cretaceous Period, around 119 million years ago in present-day China.
  • It belonged to the Confuciusornithidae family of the genus Confuciusornis, a groups of crow-sized beaked birds.
  • The fossil of Confuciusornis shifan’s skeleton was preserved on a single slab in the Jiufotang Formation, which was found close to the Xiaotaizi village in the Chinese province of Liaoning.
  • It is different from other Mesozoic birds due to the presence of an additional cushion-like bone in the first digit of the wing. This feature is significant as it may have helped the bird meet the functional demand of flight at a stage when the skeletal growth was still incomplete.
  • The discovery of Confuciusornis shifan highlights the morphological, developmental and functional diversity of the earliest beaked birds.
Confuciusornithidae Family
  • The Confuciusornithidae is a group of Early Cretaceous pygostylian birds that were found in the Jehol Biota of East Asia.
  • This group represents the earliest known toothless, beaked birds.
  • The members of this family are represented by numerous well-preserved specimens that collectively provided detailed information regarding the confuciusornithid morphology, taxonomy, flight ability, growth, diet, and ecology.
Source-  Science Journal

More Related Current Affairs View All

08 Sep

Rajasthan’s coaching centre Bill

'The Rajasthan Coaching Centres (Control and Regulation) Bill, 2025, is a significant piece of legislation passed by the Rajasthan Assembly to regulate and oversee the state's burg

Read More

28 Aug

IADT-1

'Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out its first Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-1), a crucial milestone in the preparation for the countr

Read More

28 Aug

H-1B visa changes

'H-1B visa changes 2025: United States Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called the popular H-1B visa program a “scam”, saying that American businesses should be focuse

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps