Early beaked bird — Confuciusornis dui

Geologic period: Early Cretaceous — Aptian

Age: Early Cretaceous.

Feeding: Specific diet remains uncertain.

Locomotion: Capable of aerial locomotion; exact flight performance remains a subject of research.

Body plan: Small feathered bird with wings, clawed fingers and a toothless beak.

Evidence: Skeleton and feather evidence are direct. Flight performance is reconstructed from anatomy.

Why it matters: Confuciusornis shows that toothless beaks evolved early in bird history while other primitive skeletal features remained.

Plain Language Identity: An Early Cretaceous bird from China with a toothless beak.

What You Are Looking At: A cast based on fossil material of Confuciusornis dui.

Ecosystem: Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota.

Formation: Yixian Formation.

Find Location: China.

Preservation: Visitor object is a cast.

Open Questions: Do not assume a modern bird lifestyle simply because the animal had a beak and feathers.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/confuciusornis-dui-hou-1999:nmnhpaleobiology_12307248

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title + scientific name + source scene matched; comparative chronology retained; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Confuciusornis dui

Evidence / representation: Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

Cretaceous Worlds: Dinosaurs at Their Most Diverse.