A group of international scientists has discovered a 110 million year old fossil believed to be a missing link in the evolution of modern birds. The loon-like creature was discovered in northwest China. The discovery was reported in the most recent issue of the journal 'Science.'
Prior to this discovery, scientists had only found only scant evidence of this species. In the 1980s, part of a leg was found in the same area. Now, after the most recent discovery, researchers have several complete fossils of the animal they have dubbed Gansus yumenensis.
According to Matt Lamanna of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, the new discovery serves as a link between ancient birds and modern birds.
'Most of the ancestors of birds from the age of dinosaurs are members of groups that died out and left no modern descendants. But Gansus led to modern birds, so it's a link between primitive birds and those we see today,' Lamanna told the Associated Press.
Gansus yumenensis was about the size of a modern pigeon but had webbed feet like a duck. The creature lived in watery areas which tells researchers that modern birds may have evolved from animals that lived in or near the water.
'Our new specimens are extremely well preserved, with some even including feathers,' Lamanna said. 'Because these fossils are in such good condition, they've enabled us to reconstruct the appearance and relationships of Gansus with a high degree of precision. They provide new and important insight into the evolutionary transformation of carnivorous dinosaurs into the birds we know today.'
The fossils were found in an ancient lake bed near the Chinese town of Changma.
