Illustration of the flightless Jurassic bird Yuezhuornis yangyuanensis, which had features of both birds and dinosaurs. (Image credit: Mr. Chung-Tat Cheung)Paleontologists in China have discovered a small Jurassic bird that was likely a land-based predator — like a carnivorous pheasant with killer claws. It had some features of birds and others of dinosaurs, suggesting that the earliest birds had a greater diversity of lifestyles than previously recognized.Jurassic birds first emerged 150 million to 148 million years ago, and fossils of them are rare, so experts are just starting to understand how early birds diversified and evolved the ability to fly. The researchers discovered the newly id...