Confuciusornis (Cretaceous)
Confuciusornis ("Confucius bird" from Latin) is a primitive extinct bird species of the Early Cretaceous period which inhabited China 120 million years ago.
Flying creature fossils were purchased by a young paleontologist Zhang He in 1993, in Sihetun. It soon became clear that sellers were illegally trading this valuable exhibit.
Crow sized Confuciusornis had a toothless beak like most modern-day birds. Presumably, loss of teeth occurred in the process of evolution since close bird ancestors - Ichthyornis and Hesperornis - had them. The bird lost its long tail; instead, it had a scanty PIE-go-style, a complete tail vertebrae fusion. Confuciusornis was covered with feathered plumage. The oldest bird specimen fed on insects and plants.
