New species of 'fierce' tiny dinosaurs with bat-like wings is discovered in China
A
"fierce" new species of little dinosaurs with
bat-like wings has been discovered in China.
Palaeontologists have
uncovered the fossilised remains of a 163-million-year-old creature that would
have been around the size of a magpie, weighing just 300g. Named Ambopteryx longibrachium,
it had bat-like membrane wings which were previously unknown among predatory
theropod dinosaurs. This suggests that when dinosaurs were beginning to
fly they were experimenting with a range of wing structures.
The find
"completely changes our idea of dinosaur evolution", lead
researcher Min Wang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences told The
Independent. "We imagine
dinosaurs have feathered wings but this latest discovery changes how we
understand the origins of flight," he said... read more: