‘Weird’ dinosaur prompts rethink of bird evolution

The fossil of a bird-like dinosaur that lived around the same time as Archaeopteryx — considered by many palæontologists to be the first bird — has been found in what is now southeastern China. Fujianvenator prodigiosus adds to mounting evidence that there were plenty of different birds living in the Late Jurassic period. Dinosaurs might have diversified into different kinds of bird to occupy different ecological niches, says palæontologist Hailu You. Fujianvenator’s particularly elongated hindlimbs suggest that it was all about running or wading, instead of flying.