(Related: "Earliest Bird Had Feet Like Dinosaur, Fossil Shows" [December 1, 2005].)
The newfound bird and a long lineage of descendants, which lived between 120 and 131 million years ago in the Cretaceous period, had developed a skeletal and muscle structure that provided more maneuverability and powered flight, Zhou said.
But Eoconfuciusornis and Archaeopteryx did share a limited ability to ascend from flat, low surfaces—an anatomical drawback that would have made both birds vulnerable to attack, Zhou said.
Eoconfuciusornis probably lived in trees and had claws to help it climb trunks and perch on branches, Zhou said.
It also likely glided across lakes to track and target fish, he added.
Remarkable Diversity
Xu Xing is a paleontologist at the Chinese paleontology institute who was not involved in the new study.
"The new discovery of Eoconfuciusornis adds to the remarkable diversity of the species known to be capable of flying or gliding in this part of the world 125 million years ago," Xu said.
In 2003 Xu discovered the 128-million-year-old fossil of the strange, four-winged dinosaur Microraptor gui, which he said probably could glide from tree to tree.
And earlier this year scientists unearthed the fossil of a miniature pterosaur that also soared across the same Cretaceous-period lakes and forests as Eoconfuciusornis.
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