150-Million-Year-Old Bird Fossil Discovered in China! 🐦

Hey there, future scientists! 🧐 Have you ever wondered when birds first appeared on Earth? Well, get ready for some exciting news! Scientists in China have found a bird fossil that’s about 150 million years old. That’s even older than the T. rex!

This ancient bird is called Baminornis zhenghensis (that’s a big name, isn’t it?). It was discovered in Zhenghe County in Fujian Province, China. What’s super cool about this bird is that it had a short tail that ends with a special bone called a pygostyle. Modern birds, like the ones you see in your backyard, have this bone too! 🐦

This means that birds with bodies like the ones we know today may have been around 20 million years earlier than scientists thought before. Imagine that! 😮

The fossil shows a mix of features: it has shoulders and hips like modern birds, but its hands look more like those of dinosaurs! It’s like a real-life mix between a bird and a dinosaur. How awesome is that? 🦖➡️🐦

Dr. Wang Min, one of the scientists who studied the fossil, said, “This is a groundbreaking discovery. It changes how we understand the history of birds.” Before this, the famous Archaeopteryx was the only bird known from the Jurassic Period. Now, we know there were more feathered friends back then! 🌟

Because of this discovery, scientists think that birds might have started appearing even earlier, maybe around 172 million years ago. That’s a lot of candles on a birthday cake! 🎂

This incredible find was shared with the world in the science journal Nature. Who knows what other amazing discoveries are waiting to be found? Maybe one day, you’ll be the one to find them! 🔎

Reference(s):

Jurassic fossil discovery in China sheds new light on origin of birds

cgtn.com