New Jurassic non-avian theropod dinosaur sheds light on origin of flight in Dinosauria



IMAGE: Life reconstruction of the bizarre membranous-winged Ambopteryx longibrachium.

A new Jurassic non-avian theropod dinosaur from 163 million-year-old fossil deposits in northeastern China provides new information regarding the incredible richness of evolutionary experimentation that characterized the origin of flight in the Dinosauria.

Drs. WANG Min, Jingmai K. O'Connor, XU Xing, and ZHOU Zhonghe from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences described and analyzed the well-preserved skeleton of a new species of Jurassic scansoriopterygid dinosaur with associated feathers and membranous tissues. Their findings were published in Nature.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...-njn050719.php