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Fri 22 Oct, 2004 06:34 am
BBC Science News reports:
(Full story - and pictures - here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3762626.stm )
"Feathered embryo found in China
Most modern arboreal birds are born completely helpless
A 121 million-year-old baby arboreal bird, fossilised while still curled in its egg, has been found in China, Science magazine reports this week.
The fossil is thought to be the most ancient unborn bird ever discovered.
It has piqued researcher's interest because it had feathers, whereas many modern flying birds are naked and helpless when they first hatch.
The authors say this supports the view that birds developed the strategy of hatching featherless later in history.
"This fossil is interesting because its preservation is so exceptionally fine, that even the soft tissues like feathers have been preserved," said Dr Angela Milner of London's Natural History Museum.
"For an embryo that is still inside the egg, it is surprising how advanced the feathers were."
The researchers know the bird, found in northeast China, was an embryo because the fossil is tucked up in very characteristic way for an unhatched chick.
"The tucked posture of the fossil is consistent with a late-stage embryo rather than with a hatchling, in which case the head would have raised beyond the vicinity of the feet," said authors Zhonghe Zhou and Fucheng Zhang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China.
This fossil's preservation is so exceptionally fine, that even the soft tissues like feathers have been preserved
Dr Angela Milner of London's Natural History Museum
But apart from the chick's posture, it was not very babyish at all.
"The interesting thing about this bird is that for something that has not yet hatched, it is almost fully formed," said Dr Milner.
"All its bones are formed and its feathers are very well developed."
This maturity means the bird must have been "prococial".
Prococial birds - like chickens, ducks and ostriches - produce young which are immediately competent: they have downy feathers, can run about and feed themselves almost as soon as they hatch.
"Altricial" birds on the other hand, like all songbirds, are born completely helpless, naked and blind. They require devoted care from their parents in order to survive......."
well, this is interesting, i've been "out of the loop" for while, not much news for me except for local.
what do you think this means?
Means? It means one little chick never got a chance at a real life...
Re: Feathered embryo fossil - in egg - found in China...
dlowan wrote:BBC Science News reports:
(Full story - and pictures - here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3762626.stm )
"Feathered embryo found in China
Most modern arboreal birds are born completely helpless
A 121 million-year-old baby arboreal bird, fossilised while still curled in its egg, has been found in China, Science magazine reports this week.
The fossil is thought to be the most ancient unborn bird ever discovered.
Question: According to the theory of evolution, birds are supposed to have developed from raptor type dinosaurs at a date which I'd have thought was more recent than 120 M years ago.
What if anything does this do to the theory of evolution?
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