Archaeopteryx restored in fossil reshuffle (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Jonathan Amos
Science correspondent, BBC News

What may be the earliest creature yet discovered on the evolutionary line to birds has been unearthed in China.

The fossil animal, which retains impressions of feathers, is dated to be about 160 million years old.

Scientists have given it the name Aurornis, which means "dawn bird".

The significance of the find, they tell Nature magazine, is that it helps simplify not only our understanding for how birds emerged from dinosaurs but also for how powered flight originated.

Aurornis xui, to give it its full name, is preserved in a shale slab pulled from the famous fossil beds of Liaoning Province.
***
more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22695914

[n2doc]

1. pic

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/2175/20130529/new-prehistoric-bird-species-oldest-known-avian.htm

[greiner3]

2. I'm wondering;

What was covering the fingers and its exact purpose was.