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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

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