Fossil dinosaurs appear in China

A strange new dinosaur with bat-like wings was discovered by a farmer in China.

Discover new winged dinosaurs like bats

Chinese paleontologists say that the perfectly preserved fossil of this small dinosaur dates back 160 million years . This strange creature has hard feathers on its body and fingers that look like fingers stick out from each wrist. These wrists are surrounded by a membrane like bat wings.

Scientists named this dinosaur Yi qi, meaning "anomalous wing" . They also believe that they may have flown or even flown in the air. This discovery provides new insights into how vertebrate animals fly. The researchers say the dinosaur weighs about 380g and they can also be revolutionary tests with the ability to fly.

"Bat dinosaurs" once existed on Earth.

Yi qi is a group of carnivorous dinosaurs. The group also has T-Rex and Velociraptor dinosaurs. It is thought that these dinosaurs are the ancestors of today's birds. But unlike birds, Yi qi also has strange bones that stick out of his wrists. These characteristics resemble a group of completely different creatures from birds and also the ability to fly that bat

Professor Xing Xu, one of the world's leading paleontologists at the Beijing Science Institute and also the lead author of the study, said: 'This is the most unexpected discovery ever. Birds are descended from dinosaurs, but exactly how the transformation takes place remains unclear.

But this dinosaur is completely different. It is completely different from birds and close relatives of birds. There are many species close to the bird that tried to fly but only one of them was successful. I think this example shows that there have been a lot of experiments to fly close to the current evolution of birds. '

Fossil discovery site is located in Northeast China .

This discovery was discovered the same week as finding a strange plant-eating species with relatives of T-Rex. Yi qi's fossils were discovered by a farmer in Mutoudeng, Guizhou Province in China. On fossils there are also many fears of small hard feathers in the forearm and posterior legs. These hairs also have stretches across the wings. However, what confuses palaeontologists is the wrists and bones shaped like sticks.

There are three main groups in flying vertebrates: birds (evolved from dinosaurs), flying lizards (flying reptiles extinct at the same time as dinosaurs), and bats (animals breast evolved after the extinction of dinosaurs 66 million years ago).

Most winged dinosaurs discovered so far have wing structures similar to today's birds. But Yi qi seems to be a hybrid between a dinosaur and a bat . This shows that at the time when many different dinosaurs grew wings, an attempt to fly up into the air. According to the analysis of Professor Xu and his public colleagues published in the journal Nature, these dinosaurs can only wander in the air, like flying squirrels.

This dinosaur species lacks strong muscles attached to the front bone and its skeletal structure may have interfered with the flapping of the wings and the rotational movement required for flight. Instead it could have launched itself from high branches and glided down to the ground. If it really flaps its wings, it can only fly short distances.

The fossil skull of the dinosaur "Yi qi".

But Professor Xu said: 'We think it is reasonable to name them' anomalous wings', because no birds or dinosaurs have wings like that. We do not know whether Yi qi will flap her wings, swing or both. But they certainly evolved wings with unique structures to convert from dinosaurs to birds. '

Such conclusions may cause controversy with other evolutionary biologists. But this is also a powerful demonstration of how the bird can evolve from dinosaurs.

Professor Zheng Xiaoting from Linyi University in Shangdong, who is also in charge of the project, said: 'Yi qi lives in the Jurassic period, so it is a pioneer for evolving to grow into birds. It reminds us that the beginning of flying in animals is full of innovation, but not all of these species survive. '

Dr. Kevin Padian, a paleontologist at Berkeley University in California, said the animal might not fly at all. He said: ' As for the hurdles, if the thorny bones of Yi qi support the winged wing, they can also be used to reconstruct the wing pattern like Xu and his colleagues did. . But in animals, the center of the lift must match the center of the body. If the large chalk of the body weight is too far away from the center of the lift, then the tail will sag and the animal will swing when flying. '

'It is clearly a gap in the re-enactment of Professor Xu's qi. But in terms of anatomy, if there is a way backwards, it can solve some problems. Even so, we still have a lot of skepticism, a strange structure animal that looks like they can support flying again on an animal that doesn't tend to hover. And until now, there is no reasonable explanation for the use of this structure. '