Researchers Discover Fossils of Ancient Bird That Lived Some 130.7 Million Years Ago

Researchers have discovered species of an ancient bird in Hebei, China that is the oldest known relative of today's birds.

The bird, named "Archaeornithura meemannae" lived some 130.7 million years ago in northeastern China.

In the picture, which is the reconstruction of the two well-preserved fossils, the extinct bird looks eerily similar to modern birds.

The bird stood 15 centimeters tall and was the earliest known member of the Ornithuromorpha branch that also gave us Neornithes, or modern birds. The last cited example of Ornithuromorpha lived about 125 million years ago.

"The new fossil represents the oldest record (about 130.7 million years ago) of Ornithuromorpha," said study co-author Wang Min of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"It pushed back the origination date of Ornithuromorpha by at least five million years" and the divergence of modern birds by about the same timeline.

Researchers noted that the discovered fossil lacked feathers on the bird's upper, suggesting that the bird was a wading bird that foraged for food in swamps, lakes and other water bodies.

"It provides very important information about the origin and evolution of birds," said Matthew Lamanna, assistant curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

The study's lead author Min Wang said that the Archaeornithura has many morphological features of the modern bird.

The study was published in the Nature Communications.