World’s First Bird: New Fossil Found Of Feathered Jurassic Dinosaur From China, Scientists Report As Oldest Known Bird [VIDEO]

The world's first bird has been reported by scientists as the fossil of a feathery dinosaur from China. The skeleton of the world's first bird, Aurornis xui, was discovered last year in a museum in China, after a farmer unearthed the fossil several years before.

The fossil of the world's first bird was displayed in a museum in Yizhou, China, where the Fossil and Geology Park is located. The farmer who discovered the skeleton was from the Liaoning Province in northeastern China.

In the May 30 issue of the scientific journal, Nature, scientists reported that the feathery dinosaur is the oldest known bird on Earth.

The world's first bird, Aurornis xui, is half a meter long from beak to tail and has both small teeth and feathery legs. The avian dinosaur existed 160 million years ago.

Aurornis xui has been confirmed and identified as the oldest known avialan, which is the group that includes both birds and birds' extinct relatives ever since avian dinosaurs have been separately classified from nonavian dinosaurs.

Despite scientific research confirming the dinosaur as a bird, some scholars are in disagreement with regards to whether the new found specimen can be classified as a bird.

"In my opinion, it's a bird," said study author Pascal Godefroit, "The differences between birds and dinosaurs are very thin."

While vertebrate paleontologist Luis Chiappe does not think that the new so-called "world's first bird" fits the traditional definition of a bird, Chiappe believes that the Aurornis xui "still helps us understand better the origin of birds."

The world's first bird lived during the Middle Jurassic period, but the feathery creature most likely was not able to fly, according to Godefroit. It is very possible that the bird used wings to glide among trees.