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Reconstruction of the Early Cretaceous (~110-115 million year old) amphibious bird Gansus yumenensis, in a lake in what is now the Changma Basin of northwestern Gansu Province, China. Despite its antiquity, Gansus is remarkably closely related to modern birds – the most advanced Early Cretaceous bird yet discovered. Gansus also demonstrates that the ancestors of today’s birds may have been semiaquatic in habit.

Illustration: Mark A. Klingler/CMNH

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Skeletal reconstruction of Gansus yumenensis. Bones shaded gray remain unknown in Gansus and are restored based on closely related fossil birds.

Graphic: Mark A. Klingler/CMNH

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Nearly complete fossil skeleton of Gansus yumenensis (specimen number Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences [Beijing] IG-04-CM-003).  Feathers are preserved adjacent to the wing at left.

Photo: Hai-lu You/CAGS

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Nearly complete fossil skeleton of Gansus yumenensis (specimen number Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences [Beijing] IG-04-CM-004).  Feathers (dark brown) are preserved associated with both wings.

Photo: Hai-lu You/CAGS

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Partial hind legs of Gansus yumenensis (specimen number Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences [Beijing] IG-04-CM-008), preserved with webbing between the toes.

Photo: Hai-lu You/CAGS

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Position of Gansus yumenensis in the avian evolutionary tree [color version: Gansus is in white].  Gansus is the oldest known member of the Ornithurae, the group that includes all modern birds and their closest relatives.  Gansus and several other basal ornithurans are believed to have been semiaquatic in habit, suggesting that modern birds may have originated in aquatic environments.

Graphic: Mark A. Klingler/CMNH

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Position of Gansus yumenensis in the avian evolutionary tree.  Gansus is the oldest known member of the Ornithurae, the group that includes all modern birds and their closest relatives.  Gansus and several other basal ornithurans are believed to have been semiaquatic in habit, suggesting that modern birds may have originated in aquatic environments.

Graphic: Mark A. Klingler/CMNH

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Location of the discovery site of Gansus yumenensis, in the Changma Basin of northwestern Gansu Province, China.  The Changma Basin is over 2000 kilometers from the famed Early Cretaceous feathered dinosaur and bird-bearing sediments of Liaoning Province.  Gansus fossils were discovered in the Xiagou Formation, which is believed to be several million years younger than the beds at Liaoning.

Graphic: Mark A. Klingler/CMNH

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Drs. Hai-lu You of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (left), Matthew Lamanna of Carnegie Museum of Natural History (center), and Jerry Harris of Dixie State College (right), at the celebrated “Feathered Dinosaur Quarry” of Sihetun, Liaoning Province, July 2005.

Drs. You, Lamanna, and Harris led the collaborative Chinese-American team that studied Gansus yumenensis, along with Dr. Luis Chiappe and Jingmai O’Connor (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County), Drs. Shu-an Ji, Jun-chang Lü, Chong-xi Yuan, and Qiang Ji (Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences), Da-qing Li (Third Geology and Mineral Resources Exploration Academy of Gansu Province, Lanzhou), Xing Zhang (Provincial Museum of Gansu Province, Lanzhou), Dr. Ken Lacovara (Drexel University, Philadelphia), and Dr. Peter Dodson (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia).

Photo: Carnegie Museum of Natural History

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Paleontologists Drs. Hai-lu You (left) and Matthew Lamanna (right) in the quarry in the Changma Basin that has produced many new specimens of Gansus yumenensis, August 2004.  Several fossil bird specimens are visible in the foreground.

Photo: Kenneth J. Lacovara/Drexel University

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Paleontologists Drs. Jerry Harris (left) and Matthew Lamanna (right) in the quarry in the Changma Basin that has produced many new specimens of Gansus yumenensis, July 2005.

Photo: Hai-lu You/CAGS

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Partial wing of Gansus yumenensis as discovered in the Changma Basin of northwestern Gansu Province, China, August 2004.  The Qilian Mountains, which mark the northernmost extent of the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau, are visible in the distance.

Photo: Matthew C. Lamanna/CMNH

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