Meet Junornis:the tiny Cretaceous bird which reveals the earliest form of bounding flight

Newly-discovered Junornis huoi was the oldest bird capable of bounding flight - and represents an exciting update to what we know about complex flight

A 126-million-year-old fossil has demonstrated that birds were capable of a special form of flight much earlier than previously thought. The newly named Junornis huoi (which means "beautiful wing") is known from a single incredibly preserved specimen with a superb skeleton and extensive preservation of feathers, including the wings and two long tail feathers which were likely used for display.

The fossil comes from the famous "Jehol" beds of China, which have produced numerous birds, dinosaurs, and other animals including predatory mammals and tadpoles of salamanders. The exceptional preservation of soft tissues such as feathers, claws, muscles and even gills has added considerably to our understanding of the evolution of various groups. The beds extend across northern China and even into North Korea, but Junornis is from the far western extent of these, coming from Inner Mongolia.