THE STORY of avian evolution has taken a new turn following a recent fossil discovery in China.
Archaeopteryx, the oldest known bird, had a bony feathered tail which was shorter than its hind limbs. But two new fossils of the bird Jeholornis, which lived 30 million years later, show its tail was half as long again as its hind legs, with a tuft of feathers on the end, like the flightless feathered dinosaur Caudipteryx. Yet its forelimbs are better adapted for flight than Archaeopteryx’s (Naturwissenschaften, DOI: 10.1007/s00114-003-0416-5).
That suggests Archaeopteryx was a side branch of avian evolution, says Zhonghe…
