|
 Scientists on Tuesday described a fossil of a strange dinosaur
that lived in China 125 million years ago which was covered in
feathers, looked like it had two sets of wings and may have been
able to glide.
The meat-eating creature, called Changyuraptor yangi, had
exceptionally long tail feathers, the longest feathers of any
dinosaur, at one foot in length (30 cm). It had feather-covered
forelimbs akin to wings as well as legs covered in feathers in a way
that gave the appearance of a second set of wings.
Changyuraptor is not considered a bird but rather a very bird-like
dinosaur. It illustrates that it is not always easy to tell what is
and is not a bird. It measured a bit more than 4 feet long (1.3
meters) and weighed roughly 9 pounds (4 kg).
 If a person saw Changyuraptor, the reaction likely would be: "Hey!
That is a weird-looking bird," according to paleontologist Alan
Turner of Stony Brook University in New York, one of the
researchers.
"So, think a mid-sized turkey with a very long tail," Turner added.
Scientists have identified a handful of these 'four-winged'
dinosaurs, known as microraptorines. Changyuraptor is the largest.
Birds arose from small, feathered dinosaurs. Crow-sized
Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago, is
considered the earliest known bird. But many dinosaurs before and
after that had feathers and other bird-like characteristics.
"Changyuraptor is very, very similar to Archaeopteryx and other
primitive birds. So are many other dinosaurs like Anchiornis and
Pedopenna. But they have some traits that birds lack, and lack some
traits that birds have," Turner added.
 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County paleontologist Luis
Chiappe, who led the study, said Changyuraptor lived in a forested
environment in a temperate climate, hunting birds, mammals, small
reptiles and fish.
"Animals like Changyuraptor were probably not engaged in powered
flight like modern birds. However, Changyuraptor and dinosaurs like
it could flap their wings and certainly had large feathered surfaces
on both their forelimbs and hind limbs," Turner said.
[to top of second column]
 |
"So this does raise the possibility they could glide or 'fly' in a
primitive sort of way. The way I like to think of it is: if you
pushed them out of a tree, they'd fall pretty slowly," Turner added.
If Changyuraptor were able to become airborne, its long tail
feathers may have helped reduce descent speed and enabled safe
landings. "This helps explain how animals like Changyuraptor could
engage in some form of aerial locomotion - flight, gliding, and/or
controlled descents - despite their size," Turner added.
In birds today, feathers can serve multiple functions beyond flight,
including display, species recognition and mating rituals. Turner
said Changyuraptor's feathers also may have served multiple
purposes.
China has become a treasure trove for feathered dinosaur fossils.
Changyuraptor was unearthed in Liaoning Province in northeastern
China.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by James Dalgleish)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
