New chicken-like flying dinosaur discovered in China - Indian Express

PTI : Washington, Thu May 30 2013, 15:24 hrs The dinosaur from the Middle-Late Jurassic period is providing scientists new understandings of how birds evolved, they said. (AP) Researchers have discovered a new flying dinosaur in China - roughly the same size as a chicken - that lived about 150 million years ago. The creature was about 20 inches long. It had teeth and probably fed on insects, researchers said. The dinosaur from the Middle-Late Jurassic period is providing scientists new understandings of how birds evolved, they said. The dinosaur species called Aurornis xui lived about 150 million years ago, said Pascal Godefroit, lead author and researcher at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels. It was found in the Tiaojishan Formation of Liaoning Province, China, CNN reported. This dinosaur appears to have had four wings, two along the arms and two along the legs, Godefroit said. It could probably glide but not actively fly off the ground. The specimen, exceptionally preserved in a clay sediment, appears to be an adult. Another fossil from about 150 million years ago, called Archaeopteryx, was previously considered the most primitive known bird. The newly discovered dinosaur throws that into question, as the new find appears to represent an even more primitive, older bird, Godefroit said. Experts say the relationships between the earliest bird species and their dinosaur relatives can change in subtle ways depending on the data set being used by particular groups of researchers. That means that species that were once called "birds" can become considered "troodontids," or vice versa. The exact details are still being worked out, Turner said. The study was published in the journal Nature. ALSO READ Flowing blood recovered from frozen mammoth carcass Asteroid mining company wants to put your face in space Justin Timberlake to headline iTunes festival Motorola hits comeback trail with new US-made phone Moto X Please read our terms of use before posting comments TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s). via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEZlL5M8HS9m0Xb5iu7FMh5P3F3aQ&url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/new-chickenlike-flying-dinosaur-discovered-in-china/1122735/

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