Earliest bird with alula found

Jeff Poling

Scientists said on July 31, 1996, that they had discovered an "exquisitely preserved'' new fossil that shows the first evidence of aerodynamic flight in birds. The newly identified bird, about the size of a goldfinch, lived 115 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs ruled the earth. Jose Sanz, paleontologist at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, working with the American Museum of Natural History in New York, found the bird at a site near Cuenca in central Spain.

The fossil provides evidence of the oldest known alula or "bastard wing,'' Sanz's group wrote in the science journal Nature. "The alula is essential in modern birds for low-speed flight and maneuverability,'' they wrote. The flap of feathers behaves likes slats on an airplane, increasing the camber of the wing and delaying stalling in take-offs and landings.

The new bird is the earliest one found with an alula. No evidence of one has been found in the earliest true birds including Archaeopteryx, suggesting they flew clumsily and may have had to take off from trees or cliffs.

The findings indicate "that, as early as 115 million years ago, birds had evolved a sophisticated structural system that enabled them to fly at low speeds and to attain high maneuverability.''

The new bird, named Eoalulavis hoyasi, offered another surprise, a full belly. "Crustacean remains found inside its belly also provide the oldest direct evidence of feeding habits in birds,'' Sanz wrote.