{
  "id": 10720412,
  "title": "Spectacular feathered dinosaur fossil shows bird-like adaptations",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/spectacular-feathered-dinosaur-fossil-shows-bird-like-adaptations",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-29T15:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Scientist",
    "slug": "new-scientist",
    "url": "https://www.newscientist.com/article/2591243-spectacular-feathered-dinosaur-fossil-shows-bird-like-adaptations/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A nearly complete fossil of a feathered dinosaur discovered in China reveals bird-like adaptations that likely evolved independently, according to researchers. Named Norellraptor barsboldi, the 57-centimeter-long dinosaur lived between 100 million and 145 million years ago and boasts plumage, teeth, wings, and an articulated spine. Named after paleontologists Mark Allen Norell and Rinchen Barsbold, the specimen was donated to Hebei GEO University's museum in 2023. The researchers, led by Ji Qiang, determined it was a new species belonging to a group of small dinosaurs with feathers and wings called microraptorines. The fossil's tail resembles that of Archaeopteryx, an early representative of the lineage leading to birds. Despite sharing several flight-related adaptations with birds, the researchers propose these features didn't come from a common ancestor. Instead, around 30% of anatomical changes in microraptorines also evolved in birds but in a different order, suggesting the two groups evolved flight separately for different reasons. This discovery, published in Nature Communications, highlights how the evolutionary path to flight was not a simple linear process but rather an independent innovation in both birds and bird-like dinosaurs.",
  "summary": "An exquisitely preserved fossil found in China shows that many anatomical features seen in birds also evolved independently in another group of dinosaurs",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}