THE latest feathered dinosaur supports the theory that today’s two-winged birds evolved from four-winged ancestors.
The flattened skeleton of an extinct enantiornithine bird has been found in China. The pigeon-sized fossil, so far unnamed, contains complete hind limbs and pelvis, plus parts of the backbone and wings.
Crucially, feather imprints alongside the bones reveal that the bird sported long feathers on its upper legs (Nature, vol 431, p 925). Although shorter than the fossil’s wing feathers, and not as well adapted for flight, they are longer and more aerodynamic than the leg feathers of the first known bird Archaeopteryx, says…
