News Earth

Earliest birds didn’t make a flap

Archaeopteryx, Confuciusornis plumage probably not strong enough to support sustained flight

By Sid Perkins

- More than 2 years ago

The wings were willing, but the feathers were weak. Delicate, thin-shafted plumage would have made flapping difficult if not impossible for two prehistoric birds, a new analysis of fossil feathers suggests.

NO FLAP HERE The feathers of Archaeopteryx (shown in an artist’s reconstruction) and Confuciusornis probably weren’t strong enough to withstand the stresses of flapping, a new analysis suggests, so the ancient birds may have been limited to gliding or parachuting from branch to branch.