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,

Scientists have discovered the oldest bird fossil shedding light on birds' origin in China, and reshaping the timeline of bird evolution.

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.