A BEAKED BIRD FROM THE JURASSIC OF CHINA

DISCOVERY Of avian remains close to the age of Archaeopteryx in the Li aoning Province of northeastern China provides the earliest evidence f or a beaked, edentulous bird. The associated wing skeleton retains the primitive pattern found in Archaeopteryx, including a manus with unfu sed carpal elements and long digits. Two leg skeletons from the same s ite also show an Archaeopteryx level of morphology, and provide the ea rliest indisputable evidence for a covering of body contour feathers, These specimens provide evidence for either an undiscovered pre-Archae opteryx or a rapid, post-Archaeopteryx evolution in birds. As the firs t Jurassic birds to be described from outside Germany, they show that birds with long fingers terminating in large recurved claws were widel y distributed, They are not found in the Early Cretaceous sediments of the same region, where there is a diverse assemblage of more advanced flying birds with smaller fingers and claws. The postcranial structur e of Archaeopteryx and Confuciusornis seems to be adapted for climbing tree trunks and may have disappeared near the end of the Jurassic.