A spectacularly preserved new Chinese fossil reveals a previously unseen stage in the early evolution of flight.
Called Eoconfuciusornis, it is a missing link between the oldest known bird, Archaeopteryx, and more advanced birds that have been discovered in the Yixian geological formation in China.
The Yixian deposits have yielded remarkably diverse fauna that have revolutionised avian palaeontology, but they are limited to a period from 125 to 120 million years ago - too narrow a time span to show much evidence of evolution within bird lineages.
A huge interval separates the Yixian birds from Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago, leaving a gap in scientists' knowledge of bird evolution over this period.
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iinsurgent
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this name i can't pronounce. no fun =[
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daniellamarie29
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oh wow. Interesting story.
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Latin Muscle
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I just read that on Igoogle.
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Hasta la vista, stalking hacker.
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Total Destruction
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amazing! i knew the fossil records didnt quite fit
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amazing! i knew the fossil records didnt quite fit
It does. There are a massive amount of transitional fossils.
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Reconciliation
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thats pretty cool
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A spectacularly preserved new Chinese fossil reveals a previously unseen stage in the early evolution of flight. 
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