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The fossil discovery of an early avian ancestor in China reveals that flightless birds lived alongside the known flying species.
By
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Fernando E. Novas
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Fernando E. Novas is at the Natural History “Félix de Azara” Foundation, Hidalgo 775, Buenos Aires, Argentina and the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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The many charismatic species of bird often capture people’s imagination and have driven interest in understanding the evolutionary history of this group. Writing in Nature, Xu et al.1 reveal unexpected body-form innovations during the early evolution and diversification of bird ancestors.
Nature 658, 609-610 (2026)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-02645-8
References
Xu, L. et al. Nature 658, 690–697 (2026).
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Agnolin F., Motta, M. J., Brissón Egli, F., Lo Coco, G. & Novas, F. E. Front. Earth Sci. 6, 252 (2018).
Xu, X. et al. Chin. Sci. Bull. 54, 430–435 (2009).
Xu, L. et al. Nature 621, 336–343 (2023).
Chen, R. et al. Nature 638, 441–448 (2025).
Wang, M. et al. Sci. Adv. 12, eaeb5202 (2026).
Xu, X. et al. Nature 521, 70–73 (2015).
Xu, X. et al. Nature 421, 335–340 (2003).
Wang, X. et al. Nature Commun. 17, 10074 (2026).
Motta, M. J., Agnolín, F. L., Brissón Egli, F., Rozadilla, S. & Novas, F. E. J. System. Palaeontol. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2529608 (2025).
Competing Interests
The author declares no competing interests.
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