Confuciusornis Sanctus - Plumage Of The First Birds 120 Million Years Ago Revealed
Thursday, June 30, 2011 - 17:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Using the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, researchers have examined two fossilized birds, Gansus yumenensis and Confuciusornis sanctus. Confuciusornis sanctus , which lived 120 million years ago, was one of many evolutionary links between dinosaurs and birds, sporting the first known bird-like beak. Gansus yumenensis, considered the oldest modern bird, lived more than 100 million years ago and looked a bit like a modern grebe.read more