He also lived on our planet Jian changamaensisone hitherto unknown dinosaur species of which a research group led by Carnegie Museum of Natural History (USA) just announced the discovery. The animal, lived 120 million years ago it is related to the best known Velociraptorand has been described as a sort of “four-winged dragon”.
The name that was given to the species, Jian changamaensisit is not at all random: first of all Jiān it was a bird from Chinese mythology equipped with only one eye and one wing. ChangamaensisInstead. it is a tribute to the area of discovery, the Changm Basina, in northwestern China, is one of the richest fossiliferous sites in the country.
For decades, the Changma site has been renowned among paleontologists for its extraordinary fossil birds – explains Mary R. Dawson, lead author of the work – Now, with the discovery of Jian, we finally know who the prey were
©Annals of Carnegie Museum
In fact, in recent years they have been found on the site hundreds of fossils belonging to avian dinosaursthe ancestors of our birds, and most of these finds are bone fragments that closely resemble the compact clumps of undigested material that modern birds of prey such as owls regurgitate after meals.
Jian it may have also fed on Gansus yumenensisone of the first dinosaur-era birds ever found in China, which paleontologists discovered in 1981 in the Changma.
The species, relative of the Velociraptorit’s a microraptorsgenus of small dinosaurs belonging to the family of Dromaeosauridae and has four wings. However, the new research, conducted by analyzing the intact bones of the shoulder and forelimb, demonstrated that the fossil belonged to a previously unknown microraptor species. The discovery, therefore, extends the chronology of existence of these feathered dinosaurs.
©Annals of Carnegie Museum
(Jian) expands the geographical range and helps to show the anatomical diversity of this group – comments in this regard Alexander Dececchi, assistant professor at the College of Arts and Sciences at Dakota State University in Madison (USA), not involved in this study – all important elements for determining where, when and which of them could use aerial locomotion
Because – be careful – even though it had four wings, this dinosaur was classified as “”, that is, it was not a bird as we imagine it. The microraptors it lived on the ground, although it may have learned to live in trees and glide from tree to tree to stay out of reach of larger carnivorous dinosaurs.
Perhaps these creatures started living on the ground, then started climbing and once in the trees, developed characteristics that helped them stay there
explains Matt Lamannasenior author of the research
©Annals of Carnegie Museum
The fossil will allow scientists to study the evolution of wings and flight in microraptors. But the next step, meanwhile, will be to scan the wing to see what it might reveal about the flying or gliding capabilities of the microraptors.
The work was published on Annals of Carnegie Museum.
Sources: Carnegie Museum of Natural History/Facebook / Annals of Carnegie Museum / CNN
