Scientists find the oldest ever relative of modern birds

https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=

A newly discovered species is now our oldest-known example of Ornithuromorpha, the evolutionary branch that hosts all living birds. This pushes back the origin of modern birds by nearly 6 million years. The new bird-old bird, named Archaeornithura meemannae, was announced in a Nature Communications paper published on Tuesday.

Archaeornithura meemannae lived some 130.7 million years ago (during the Early Cretaceous) in what's now the Sichakou basin of northeastern China. Until now, the oldest known member of the modern bird lineage was just 125 million years old.

Bird origins are important. We know with some certainty that birds descended from the dinosaurs, making them the last living remnants of the creatures that once dominated our planet. But not all dinosaurs had the privilege of spawning surviving bird lineages. In fact, some dinosaurs that did evolve into animals we'd call birds didn't make it: The branch Enantiornithes, which may have co-existed with Ornithurae at one point and are characterized by clawed wings and teeth, went extinct 66 million years ago.



more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/05/05/scientists-find-the-oldest-living-relative-of-modern-birds/?tid=rssfeed