The discovery of the Zhenghe Bamin bird rewrites the history of bird evolution

A bird that lived in Fujian 150 million years ago rewrote the history of bird evolution.

Recently, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Fujian Institute of Geological Survey jointly discovered the bird fossil " Zhenghe Bamin Bird ". This is one of the earliest known birds in the world. The discovery of "Zhenghe Bamin Bird" reveals that the body structure of modern birds appeared in the late Jurassic period (150 million years ago) , which pushed the appearance time of important features represented by the pygostyle nearly 20 million years earlier . The relevant research results were published in Nature on February 13, Beijing time.

Ecological restoration map of Zhenghe Bamin Birds and Zhenghe Animal Group (drawn by Zhao Chuang)

Image source: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The evolution of birds from dinosaurs is undoubtedly the most shocking scene in the history of life evolution, which involves a large number of changes in bones, muscles, epidermal derivatives and other biological structures. Theoretical studies of macroevolution speculate that the increase in bird diversity first occurred in the Jurassic, but this hypothesis lacks fossil evidence to support it . At present, the only Jurassic bird we know is Archaeopteryx , which was discovered in the Late Jurassic in Germany. However, the taxonomic position of Archaeopteryx has been questioned recently, and some studies believe that Archaeopteryx belongs to Deinonychus, not birds. In addition, Anchiornis and Ornithorhynchus have also been classified as birds, but these hypotheses are all highly controversial. These problems are like a dark cloud, hanging over the node of the origin of birds, troubling evolutionary biologists.

Since 2021, researchers Wang Min and Zhou Zhonghe from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology have cooperated with the Fujian Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources to form a field team to carry out systematic paleontological and stratigraphic surveys in Fujian Province. In September 2023, the joint team reported in Nature the first dinosaur bone fossil discovered in Fujian - the strange Fujian dragon, and named it the "Zhenghe Fauna", providing a new window for studying the evolution of East Asia's late Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystem. In November 2023, the field team discovered two incomplete reptile fossils in the "Zhenghe Fauna".

After a year-long indoor restoration and research and analysis of the fossil, in which only part of the shoulder girdle bone was exposed from the surrounding rock, the research team determined that the fossil belonged to a bird and named it Baminornis zhenghensis. Its genus name "Bamin" is the ancient name of Fujian.

The holotype specimen of Zhenghe Baminornis (Photo provided by Wang Min)

Image source: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The research team speculates that the Zhenghe Bamin bird was similar in shape to today's cockatoo, weighed more than 100 grams, and lived in an environment similar to a lakeside swamp.

The discovery of the "Zhenghe Bamin Bird" is the only confirmed Jurassic bird. The origin of birds was pushed back to the late Middle Jurassic (172-164 million years ago), rewriting the history of bird evolution and further demonstrating the great potential of the Zhenghe fauna for exploring the evolution of East Asian late Mesozoic ecosystems.

Comprehensive sources: Xinhua News Agency, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Voice of Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc.