Flightless Jurassic bird was a carnivorous pheasant-like predator with killer claws

Paleontologists described Yuezhuornis yangyuanensis, a small flightless Jurassic bird that lived 150–148 million years ago. Weighing about 0.8 kg, it had sickle-shaped claws and hind limbs longer than its forelimbs, resembling deinonychosaur dinosaurs. The findings were published in Nature.

• Fossil dates to 150–148 million years ago and weighed about 0.8 kg
• Forelimbs were roughly one-third shorter than hind limbs
• Combines bird and dinosaur traits, including hyperextensible sickle claws
• Discovered in 2024 in the Zhenghe Fauna of southeastern China