Palaeontology: Flightless Jurassic bird reveals early diversity (Nature)
15 October 2026
A newly discovered Jurassic bird from China appears to have lived a land-based, flightless lifestyle, according to research published in Nature. The findings suggest that the earliest birds had a greater diversity of lifestyles than previously recognized, and that not all were adapted for flight.
Fossils of Jurassic birds, which first emerged 148–150 million years ago, are rare, which makes it difficult to understand how early birds first diversified. Flight is a defining feature of modern birds and is thought to have had an important role in their early evolution, but the scarcity of Jurassic fossils has made it difficult to understand how the earliest avialans lived.
Min Wang and colleagues describe Yuezhuornis yangyuanensis, a new bird species from the Late Jurassic (approximately 148 to 150 million years ago), discovered in Fujian province, China. Analysis of its fossilized skeleton suggests that it lived a terrestrial, flightless lifestyle and places it among the earliest-diverging birds. The animal, which is estimated to have weighed about 821 grams, had forelimbs roughly one-third shorter than its hind limbs. Comparisons with 377 living bird species showed that its limb proportions were most similar to those of terrestrial birds, including ground-dwelling species such as pheasants. The researchers also identified a distinctive, highly flexible second toe, a feature seen in deinonychosaurs but not known in birds, a group of predatory dinosaurs that includes Velociraptor.
The authors conclude that Yuezhuornis may have occupied an ecological niche that was rarely utilized by early birds. The discovery adds to growing evidence that the earliest stages of bird evolution were surprisingly varied. However, the species is known from a single incomplete specimen, and more fossil discoveries will be needed to better understand its lifestyle and place in bird evolution.
- Article
- Published: 14 October 2026
Xu, L., Wang, M., Lin, G. et al. Jurassic flightless bird reveals early ecological diversity of avialans. Nature 658, 690–697 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10972-z
News & Views: Some Jurassic period birds were flightless
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02645-8
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