Cretaceous bird radiation

Article By:

Zhou, Zhonghe Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica, Beijing, People's Republic of China.

Last reviewed:2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB070990

The recent report of the eleventh specimen or tenth skeleton of the Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx not only provided new evidence linking birds and theropod dinosaurs, but also reaffirmed its unique position in avian evolution as the oldest and most primitive known bird. In addition, in the last two decades many more birds have been unearthed from the Cretaceous than in all time before. (The Cretaceous was the last period of the Mesozoic, preceded by the Jurassic and followed by the Tertiary Period; it extended from 145 million years to 65 million years before the present.) In particular, hundreds of completely preserved skeletons in association with beautiful feathers, referable to over 20 new avian orders and families, have been reported from Lower Cretaceous lake deposits in Liaoning (northeast China), Spain, and other regions. These discoveries constitute the best evidence for the earliest bird radiation in history. Thanks to these new fossils, our knowledge of early avian diversity, phylogeny, flight, development, and diet, size, and habitat variations has been significantly improved.

The content above is only an excerpt.