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A team of paleontologists working for the Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of Vertebrates and the Center of Excellence for Life and Paleoenvironment of the Chinese Academy of Science discovered a species of dinosaur resembling a bird and pterosaur-shaped wings. The discovery, reported in the May 9 issue of the newspaper Nature, shed new light on the origins of avian
Ambopteryx longibrachium. Image credit: Chung-Tat Cheung & Min Wang / Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of Vertebrates, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Appointed Ambopteryx longibrachium, the new dinosaur lived about 163 million years ago (Jurassic period) in present-day China.
The prehistoric creature had a body length of about 12.6 inches (32 cm) and an estimated body mass of 300 g.
It belongs to Scansoriopterygidae, an extinct family of non-avian climbing and flying theropod dinosaurs.
'Scansoriopterygids differ from other theropods in their body proportions, especially in the proportions of the anterior paw, which supports a bizarre wing structure, recognized for the first time in Yi qi, a close relative of Ambopteryx longibrachium, "Said the team leader, Dr. Min Wang and his colleagues.
"Unlike other flying dinosaurs, especially birds, these two species have membranous wings supported by a wrist-shaped wrist bone that is not found in any other dinosaur, but that we find in the pterosaurs and flying squirrels. "
An almost complete skeleton of Ambopteryx longibrachium was unearthed near Wubaiding Village in Liaoning Province of China.
"Because of the incomplete preservation of the only known specimen Yi qi, the veracity of the unique structures of the wings and their exact function were the subject of lively discussions, "said the paleontologists.
"As the most completely preserved specimen so far, Ambopteryx longibrachium preserves the membranous wings and wrist in the shape of a stick, thus reinforcing their widespread existence in Scansoriopterygidae. "
"These wing structures represent a short-lived and unsuccessful flight attempt," they added.
"On the other hand, feathered wings, documented for the first time in the non-avian dinosaurs of Upper Jurassic, have been refined by the evolution of many skeletal and soft tissue changes, giving rise to at least two other independent origins of flying dinosaurs and finally to the current success of modern birds. "
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Min Wang et al. 2019. A new Jurassic scansoriopterygid and loss of membranous wings in theropod dinosaurs. Nature 569: 256-259; doi: 10.1038 / s41586-019-1137-z
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