#cratonavis

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(Type specimen of Cratonavis zhui with select skeletal regions highlighted [scale bars = 10 mm], from Li et al., 2023)

Meaning of name: Cratonavis = craton [in English, referring to the destruction of the North China Craton during the Early Cretaceous] bird [in Latin]; zhui = for Zhu Rixiang [Chinese geologist]

Age: Early Cretaceous (Aptian), about 119 million years ago

Where found: Jiufotang Formation, Liaoning, China

How much is known: Nearly complete skeleton of one individual with preserved feathers.

Notes: Cratonavis was an early avialan, a group of mostly flight-capable dinosaurs that also contains modern birds. It appears to have been closely related to Jinguofortis and Chongmingia, two other avialans known from the Early Cretaceous of China. Their lineage shared with modern birds a short tail and reduced fingers, but were more similar to non-avialan theropods in the structure of their skull and shoulder girdle.

Among Mesozoic avialans, Cratonavis was unusual in having a particularly long shoulder blade. It also had a long, backwards-facing innermost toe on each foot, which may have been an adaptation to perching or grasping.

Cratonavis is not to be confused with Cratoavis, an enantiornithean avialan from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil.

Missing link? A newly-discovered fossil looks like the halfway point between birds and dinosaurs

Cratonavis zhui is a "bird" with T. rex-like skull — and it tells us a lot about avian evolution from dinosaurs

A recently discovered bird with a T. rex-like skull was unearthed in China — epitomizing, in one bizarre fossil, a visual representation of the long, strange evolution from dinosaurs to birds.

Called Cratonavis zhui, the strange hybrid died some 150 million years ago and was uncovered by paleontologists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Cratonavis most likely behaved like a raptor, flitting from tree to tree and pouncing on prey with its sharp claws. It's a remarkable find that illustrates mosaic evolution, or the slow transition of some traits while others remain the same.

The evolutionary history of birds is nothing short of spectacular. The diversity of feathers, beaks, claws, diet and preferred geography is broad, not to mention the ability to majestically fly better than any other animal. But the differences between birds and dinosaurs are substantial, and experts still aren't entirely sure how this transition happened...