Newly Identified Feathered Dinosaur Could be Earliest Bird

Posted on May 29, 2013

The fossil of a previously unknown feathered dinosaur has been identified. The paleontologists that discovered the fossil believe the creature, named Aurornis xui, is the oldest known bird. The dinosaur lived 150 million years ago in the Jurassic period. The name Aurornis means "dawn bird." The scientists don't think the 20-inch long creature could fly. You can see an artist's impression of Aurornis xui here.

The researchers believe Aurornis xui is older than Archaeopteryx, another feathered dinosaur. The paleontologists also believe Archaeopteryx was a bird. The scientists say in a research paper, published here in Nature, that the Auronis discovery "confirms the avialan status of Archaeopteryx."

The fossil of Aurornis xui was rediscovered last year in the Fossil and Geology Park museum in Yizhou by palaeontologist Pascal Godefroit. It was originally found by a farmer in China's Liaoning Province.

Godefroit told NPR, "In my opinion, it's a bird. But these sorts of hypotheses are very controversial. We're at the origins of a group. The differences between birds and [non-avian] dinosaurs are very thin."

Not all experts agree with the bird classification. NPR reports that Luis Chiappe, director of the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, does not think Aurornis xui is a bird. However, he does think Archaeopteryx is a bird.

A National Geographic post examines the debate over the earliest bird.

DINOSAURS