A tiny feathered dinosaur fossil from China is reshaping ideas about how flight evolved. The species, named Norellraptor barsboldi, was described in Nature Communications on September 29.

The creature was just 57 centimetres long and lived in what is now Liaoning province. Analysis of 194 skeletal changes found that about 30 per cent are linked to flight-related adaptations, placing the small predator close to the origin of powered flight.

Researchers say the fossil shows flight evolved more than once among feathered dinosaurs, through convergent evolution. Different lineages independently developed the body plans needed to take to the air.

The finding adds to the picture of the dinosaur-bird transition as a bushy, experimental process rather than a single leap. Liaoning's fossil beds continue to yield some of the world's most important feathered dinosaur specimens. The authors say more Liaoning fossils could reveal further experiments in flight. Each new specimen sharpens the picture of how birds arose.