Fine-feathered dino sported bizarre bird tail
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A pigeon-sized dinosaur that lived more than 100 million years ago sported four ribbon-like tail feathers that likely helped the creature balance on tree branches.
That picture comes from a fossil of a nearly complete skeleton and the well-preserved feathers of Epidexipteryx hui, discovered in Inner Mongolia, China. The finding, detailed in the Oct. 23 issue of the journal Nature, fills in gaps about the transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds.
Although scientists are not positive about the dates for the sediments that the skeleton was found in, researchers suspect the dinosaur lived some time around 152 million to 168 million years ago during the Middle to Late Jurassic Period. That makes the remains slightly older than Archaeopteryx, long considered the oldest bird, which lived about 150 million years ago.
That picture comes from a fossil of a nearly complete skeleton and the well-preserved feathers of Epidexipteryx hui, discovered in Inner Mongolia, China. The finding, detailed in the Oct. 23 issue of the journal Nature, fills in gaps about the transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds.
Although scientists are not positive about the dates for the sediments that the skeleton was found in, researchers suspect the dinosaur lived some time around 152 million to 168 million years ago during the Middle to Late Jurassic Period. That makes the remains slightly older than Archaeopteryx, long considered the oldest bird, which lived about 150 million years ago.
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