Baminornis is a landmark discovery and ranks among the most important bird fossils unearthed since the discovery

This discovery strengthens the idea that birds had already begun to diversify by the late Jurassic period. The presence of Baminornis zhenghensis suggests that key bird features, such as shorter tails, evolved much earlier than previously believed.

Researchers have discovered a 149-million-year-old bird fossil in southeastern China, featuring a short tail structure that could rewrite the evolutionary history of birds. As detailed in a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature,

The short-tailed find with the forelimb of a raptor is an extremely rare example of the transition from dinosaurs to birds Chinese palaeontologists have found what could be the world's oldest bird fossil,

The bird has a short tail ending in a pygostyle, an important aerodynamic innovation moving the center of mass forward toward the wings.