A recent fossil discovery by researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, as well as associated analyses, suggests that the first dinosaur egg was leathery, and the major transition in egg morphology occurred early in the evolution of theropod dinosaurs rather than near the origin of birds.
An international research team led by Prof. ZHANG Huaqiao from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology has reported the discovery of extraordinary early Cambrian (ca. 535 million years ago, or Ma) microfossils preserving the introvert musculature of cycloneuralians.
Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology and the Fujian Institute of Geological Survey described and analyzed a new 150-million-year-old avialan theropod from Fujian Province.
While ravens do not occur in China's capital Beijing today, a new scientific study analyzing fossil bird bones from the UNESCO World Heritage Zhoukoudian "Peking Man" site demonstrates that ravens lived in western Beijing at the same time as some of its famous ancient human inhabitants.
A team of Chinese paleontologists has made a significant discovery by identifying remnants of a vegetable diet in the stomach contents of a 120-million-year-old fossilized bird found in northeastern China. The findings, published recently in the journal Nature Communications, provide direct dietary evidence that the earliest bird on our planet called Jeholornis consumed leaves of plants that produce flowers and bear their seeds in fruits.
A new type of analysis of a spectacular 120-million-year-old fossil skeleton of the extinct early bird Jeholornis from northeastern China has revealed the oldest evidence for birds eating leaves, marking the earliest known evolution of arboreal plant-eating among birds.
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