Ecological reconstruction of Baminornis zhenghensis and the Zhenghe Fauna. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A set of fossils discovered in East China's Fujian province has been identified as the only known unambiguous record of Jurassic birds, pushing back the origin of birds to the late Middle Jurassic period and rewriting the history of avian evolution.

After a year of restoration and research, a joint team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Fujian Institute of Geological Survey confirmed that the set of fossils discovered in November 2023 in Daxi village of Fujian's Zhenghe county belong to a bird from the late Middle Jurassic period, dating back approximately 150 million years.

In their study, which was published in Nature journal on Thursday, the researchers named the bird species Baminornis zhenghensis. Its fossils display a unique combination of features including birdlike shoulder and pelvic girdles as well as a hand structure resembling that of nonavian dinosaurs, according to the CAS.

"Birds evolved from dinosaurs, which is one of the most astonishing chapters in the history of evolution. This process involved significant changes in bones, muscles and other biological structures, representing a leap from land to sky," said Xu Xing, an academician of the CAS and director of its paleontology institute.

"The Zhenghe Fauna, where the set of fossils was found, offers a rare glimpse into the ecosystems of the late Mesozoic era. It's a treasure trove for understanding the origins of the variety of life we see today," he added.