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Huaxiasaurus and new Chinese bird
From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org
Huaxiasaurus and new Chinese bird
Can't recall if the following wireservice story for July
23 was mentioned here. It describes a new (unnamed) bird
from China. It also mentions a mystery bird (?dinosaur)
called Huaxiasaurus, mentioned in a May 1, 2000 Hong Kong
story posted here. Anybody have additional info on these
critters?
New Discovery to Help Solve Riddle of Bird Origin
Shenyang, July 23
Chinese paleontologists expect to make significant
breakthroughs in research of bird origins with the
discovery of fossils of a new species of primitive bird
that lived 125 million years ago.
The new find in Chaoyang of northeast China's Liaoning
province provides more clues for study into the bird's
ancestry and finally might help solve the riddle of bird
origins, said scholars from the Chinese Academy of
Science.
Before fossilized ancient birds were unearthed in
Chaoyang , the archaeopteryx, a primitive bird whose
fossils were discovered in Germany, was long held to be
the earliest bird in the world.
Prior to the recent discovery, fossils of 10 species of
ancient birds including Huaxiasaurus and Confuciusornis
have been found in great quantity in the area, with the
earliest dating back to over 145 million years ago.
The newly-discovered fossils showed that the waterfowl-
like primitive bird had strong forelimbs and compact
teeth, and was well-adapted to flying.
Fossilized fish of five species and a large number of
fossilized plants were also found with the bird fossils.