Earliest short-tailed bird from the Late Jurassic of China
Nature, Published online: 12 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08410-zTwo recently discovered bird fossils from the Late Jurassic Zhenghe Fauna demonstrate that highly derived bird-like features and the origin of birds appeared much earlier in the Jurassic period than previously estimated.
![Earliest short-tailed bird from the Late Jurassic of China](https://media.springernature.com/m685/springer-static/image/art:10.1038%2Fs41586-024-08410-z/MediaObjects/41586_2024_8410_Fig1_HTML.png)
Nature, Published online: 12 February 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08410-zTwo recently discovered bird fossils from the Late Jurassic Zhenghe Fauna demonstrate that highly derived bird-like features and the origin of birds appeared much earlier in the Jurassic period than previously estimated.