Ravens are intelligent and adaptable birds that have a long history of association with humans. They have been featured in myths, legends, and art of various cultures, and have been regarded as symbols of wisdom, trickery, or death.
Ravens are not native to Beijing where they are rarely seen today, but raven bones have been discovered in the Chinese capital.
How did ravens come to live in Beijing in the past, and what was their relationship with the early humans who inhabited the region?
A new study has shed some light on these questions by analyzing fossil bird bones from a famous archaeological site.
The discovery and identification of raven fossils
MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images
The study, conducted by researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Field Museum of Natural History in the U.S., was published in the Journal of Ornithology on Aug. 27.
The researchers examined fossil bird bones excavated from a cave site called Locality 3 on Dragon Bone Hill in western Beijing.
This site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Zhoukoudian "Peking Man" site, which contains fossils of early humans and animals from the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).
The researchers identified two raven bones in the fossil collection: an upper arm bone (humerus) and a shinbone (tibiotarsus).
These bones were previously assigned to an extinct species of crow called Corvus fangshannus, but the researchers found that they actually belonged to the northern raven (Corvus corax), also known as the common raven.
The northern raven is the largest species of songbird in the world, with a weight of nearly 1.5 kilograms and a wingspan over one meter.
The researchers compared the raven bones to skeletons of living and extinct species of crows and ravens from across Eurasia.
They found that the raven bones had features that were common to some groups of crow and raven relatives, as well as specific traits that distinguished them from other species.
They also used radiocarbon dating to estimate the age of the raven bones, which turned out to be more than 100,000 years old.
The implications and significance of raven fossils
The discovery of raven fossils in Beijing has several implications and significance for understanding the ecology and evolution of ravens and humans in eastern Asia.
For one, the raven fossils indicated that ravens lived in western Beijing simultaneously with some of its ancient human inhabitants, such as Homo erectus ("Peking Man") and Homo sapiens.
This suggested that ravens may have had a close relationship with humans for a long time, possibly scavenging on human food waste or hunting remains, or even interacting with humans in other ways.
Moreover, the bones suggested that ravens had a wider geographic distribution in the past than they do today.
These birds are currently absent from most parts of China, except for some areas in the north and west. The reasons for their decline are unclear but may be related to habitat loss, human persecution, or competition with other birds.
The fossils also provide new insights into the diversity and evolution of crows and ravens in Eurasia.
Ravens are part of a large group of birds called corvids, which include crows, jays, magpies, and nutcrackers. Corvids are known for their intelligence, sociality, and adaptability. The fossil record of corvids is sparse and incomplete, so finding new fossils can help fill in the gaps and reveal their evolutionary history.
The rare fossil evidence of ravens living alongside early humans in Beijing is a remarkable finding that reveals the ancient coexistence of these two intelligent species.
According to the study, ravens were present in western Beijing more than 100,000 years ago and that they belonged to the same species as the living northern raven.
