More evidence of bird evolution.

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Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/smallest-known-dinosaur-found-in-amber/

Smallest Known Dinosaur Found in Amber

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Oldest known bird fossil discovered 67 million years old,

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51925335

Fossil 'wonderchicken' could be earliest known fowl

By Helen Briggs
BBC News

A newly discovered fossil bird could be the earliest known ancestor of every chicken on the planet.

Living just before the asteroid strike that wiped out giant dinosaurs, the unique fossil, from about 67 million years ago, gives a glimpse into the dawn of modern birds.

Birds are descended from dinosaurs, but precisely when they evolved into birds like the ones alive today has been difficult to answer.

This is due to a lack of fossil data.

The newly discovered - and well-preserved - fossil skull should help fill in some of the gaps.

"This is a unique specimen: we've been calling it the 'wonderchicken'," said Dr Daniel Field of the University of Cambridge.

"It's the only nearly complete skull of a modern bird that we have, so far, from the age of dinosaurs and it's able to tell us quite a lot about the early evolutionary history of birds."

The fossil bird has been named Asteriornis maastrichtensis, after Asteria, a Greek goddess of falling stars who turns into a quail. It was found in a quarry on the Netherlands-Belgium border.

The bird weighed in at just under 400g and was an early member of the group that gave rise to modern-day chickens, ducks and other poultry.

At the time, the region was covered by a shallow sea, and conditions were similar to modern tropical beaches. With its long, slender legs, the bird may have been a shore dweller.

"Birds are such a conspicuous and important group of living animals, being able to say something new about how modern birds actually arose is really a significant thing for palaeontologists and evolutionary biologists," said Dr Field.

"The wonderchicken is going to rank as a truly important fossil for helping clarify the factors that actually gave rise to modern birds."

The research is published in the journal Nature.

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A new early important transitional species between raptors and birds.

Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-06-argentine-paleontologists-small-carnivorous-dinosaur.html

Argentine paleontologists discover small carnivorous dinosaur


[IMG]
The fossilized jaw of an Overoraptor chimentoi, a new species of dinosaur discovered in Argentine Patagonia
Fossilized remains of a new species of dinosaur that lived 90 million years ago have been discovered in Patagonia, Argentine paleontologists announced on Thursday.

The winged dinosaur had legs similar to the velociraptor and experts believe it may hold the key to revealing information about the evolution of birds.

The fossil remains, which measure less than a meter and a half in length, were discovered at a dig in the province of Rio Negro in Argentine Patagonia, around 1,100 kilometers (685 miles) from Buenos Aires, the scientific dissemination agency from the La Matanza university said.

It is a new species of carnivorous Paraves theropod that has been named Overoraptor chimentoi, explained Matias Motta, a researcher from the Argentine natural sciences museum.

It is related to another species found more than 10,000 kilometers away in Madagascar.

The first remains were discovered in 2013, with more fossils found in a second dig in 2018.

"This animal had a very sharp claw on its index toe, which certainly was used to attack prey, and it had a long and graceful leg, which indicates it was a running animal," said Motta, the main author of the study published in The Science of Nature magazine.

"It was certainly fast, agile and, like all its relatives, it would have been carnivorous."

Researchers were surprised to find that while its legs were similar to the "raptor" family of dinosaurs, its upper limbs were very long and robust, similar to modern birds.

The second dig uncovered many bones, including an almost complete foot, tail vertebrae and parts of a wing, said paleontologist Federico Brisson Egli.

Previous discoveries in Patagonia of dinosaurs with bird-like features belonged to the Unenlagia genus of dromaeosaurid theropods, which were agile and walked on their hind legs.

"Contrary to what we originally assumed, the Overoraptor is not part of the Unenlagia family, but from another group including a Madagascan species called Rahonavis," said paleontologist Fernando Novas.

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One point that this reference did not make clear, which is an important factor that makes this discovery very important is that the Ravenavis family this species is an older primitive missing link that is more closely related to Avialae the family that birds more directly descended from. Both Unenlagia and the Ravenavis families of Therapod dinosaurs and had feathered bied like dinosaurs. There are not many fossils of species from Ravenavis family. In fact I believe the only other species in this family is found in Madagascar.

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More recent analysis of an older unique discovery of a bird-like dinosaur reveals evidence of a more continuum of evolution from dinosaurs to birds.

One-of-a-Kind Dinosaur Specimen Discovered in China Offers View Into Dinosaur-Bird Evolution[/cite]

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The tinniest dinosaur sesxribed in post #1: Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...ound-in-amber/ is not likely dinosaur nor bird, but a lizard. Later comparitive anatomy research made the determination.

Source: https://syrianews.media/2020/08/04/scientists-retract-claim-of-finding-tiniest-dinosaur-nbc-news/

Scientists retract claim of finding tiniest dinosaur

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Source : https://www.nbcnews.com/science/scie...osaur-n1235659