A study team, chaired by Dr. JI Qiang, a research fellow at the Institute of Geology, a part of Chinese Academy of Geology, has recently announced that it unearthed a fossilized bird that is dated back even earlier than the German archaeopteryx, an ancient bird species that has gained worldwide acknowledgement of its bird ancestor status for 140 years.

Researchers unearthed the oldest bird fossil on July, 2004 on the top of the Longfeng Mount, located in Fengning County, Hebei Province, a geological stratum lower than the one in west Liaoning, where a precious fossilized Zhonghua Longniao (China Dragon Bird) was found.  The fossilized bird was found intact, with a length about 54.8 cm running from head to tail, fully covered by clearly defined feather traces. The bird head presents a side view of triangular form, with a relatively short beak, and 18 smooth teeth sitting at upper and lower jaws respectively. Named Huamei Jinfeng (Beautiful Chinese Phoenix Bird), the fossilized bird retains 12 neck vertebra, 11 back vertebra, and 23 tail vertebra, with a tail length of 27.3 cm, or almost half of its total length. What marvels researchers most is 11 eggs of dark yellow color and less than 10mm across, preserved inside the bird body.

Researchers analyzed 205 anatomic parts of the fossilized bird, using an internationally recognized software for tracking down ancient animals?¯ evolution path. Results show that it bears a sister relationship with the archaeopteryx, at the bottom of the primitive bird family tree, though a bit earlier than the archaeopteryx. This indicates that Huamei Jinfeng bird, sitting at a critical position running from dinosaurs to birds, makes the most primitive bird so far discovered in the world. 

Researchers explain that the comparative study of fossil features has shown that the archaeopteryx has fewer and shorter arch-shaped smooth teeth, while Huamei Jinfeng bird keeps more and bigger smooth teeth in a dense alignment. The archaeopteryx has rear limbs as almost equally long as the forelimbs. However, Huamei Jinfeng bird has rear limbs slightly longer than the forelimbs. These features indicate that Huamei Jinfeng bird is more primitive than the archaeopteryx, which in turn supports the theory on bird original terrestrial flying capability. Family tress analysis also confirms that Huamei Jinfeng bird is the most primitive bird.

Researchers are trying to tell the age of the stratum, where the fossilized bird was unearthed, using radioactive means, in an attempt to know the accurate age of the bird. The finding has been published in the March issue of Geology Bulletin.