![]() ![]() The study authors took careful note of its skeletal features, comparing them to other troodontid specimens and scanning the fossilized remains using a laser-based imaging technique that’s helping paleontologists see new details in fossils. The holotype, or original example, of this species is available for public display and scientific study at a museum in Dalian, China. “However, at this time we don't have enough information to say whether the animal could fly or glide,” Pittman adds. The asymmetrical feathers on the new species suggest that it got at least some aerodynamic boost, Pittman says, but in some dinosaur species this may have translated to longer leaps, slowing descents, or other nimble escapes from predators and pounces upon prey. “It is extremely challenging to accurately reconstruct aerodynamic capabilities in early fossil birds and bird-like dinosaurs, because there is a lot of missing data to deal with,” says Michael Pittman, a paleontologist at the University of Hong Kong and an author of this study, in an e-mail. Early ancestors of birds evolved feathers before they were capable of flight, and even the presence of feathers associated with flight-for example, the asymmetrical feathers found on this new species-doesn’t mean that an animal could actually fly.Ĭould Jianianhualong tengi get off the ground? Probably not. Most researchers believe birds are descendants of a group of dinosaurs that included the Tyrannosaurus rex.īut not all feathers are created equal. ( Read "This Is Our Best Look Yet at a Tyrannosaur's Face") Feathers offered evolutionarily advantages such as insulation, camouflage, display, and flight support (for some), and were likely a feature of all dinosaurs, even Tyrannosaurus rex. Subsequent discoveries have reinforced paleontologists’ understanding that feathers weren’t just for the birds. The landmark 1861 discovery of Archaeopteryx, another kind of bird-like dinosaur, was the first clue that dinosaurs might have been more downy than scaly. “And now we can demonstrate that this feature has a wide distribution outside the bird family.” Birds of a Feather “It is widely accepted that feather asymmetry is important for origin of bird flight,” e-mails Xu Xing, a paleontologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences who co-led this study. What makes Jianianhualong tengi stand out is its asymmetrical feathers, which have long, stiff quills and barbs that are longer on one side than the other. The area in which it was discovered-the Jehol Group, a range of Cretaceous fossils famous for their biodiversity and preservation of stunning detail-has yielded a host of new species in previous years. ![]() ![]() Unearthed in Lioaning, China, the well-preserved fossil represents a new species of troodontid, a family of bird-like dinosaurs. Jianianhualong tengi was just over three feet long and weighed about as much as a Chihuahua-hardly a match for many of its Cretaceous contemporaries.īut a recent study of this diminutive dinosaur could have an outsized impact on scientists’ understanding of how feathers evolved. In its time, about 125 million years ago, it must not have seemed remarkable. ![]()
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