Newly Identified Norellraptor Could Reshape What We Know About Feathered Dinosaur Flight Evolution
- On Tuesday, researchers reported in Nature Communications the discovery of a new four-winged dinosaur, Norellraptor barsboldi, in Liaoning, China. The 3-year-old fossil suggests flight-related traits emerged more than once in the Paraves group.
- Analysis of 194 anatomical changes reveals that only around 30 percent of flight features in microraptors are shared with birds. This distinct sequence indicates these lineages acquired flight apparatuses through different evolutionary pathways.
- Vertebrate paleontologist Scott Hartman described the 3-year-old Norellraptor as a generalist predator measuring 21 inches long. He suggested these dinosaurs likely utilized a mix of gliding and flapping to control landings.
- Rui Pei, a paleontologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, noted the findings demonstrate microraptors acquired traits convergent with early birds. He added it is reasonable to expect these theropods performed behaviors comparable to modern avian species.
- Dating to between 145 million and 100 million years ago, Norellraptor was discovered in the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation. This discovery clarifies the complex evolutionary history of flight within the Paraves, providing critical data for understanding early dinosaurian capabilities.
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32 Articles
Observador
A study throws on the ground the paradigm of the unique origin of flight, revealing that the ability to fly was an "evolutionary experience" that nature successfully repeated along totally different paths.
A new feathered dinosaur, the fossil of which was found in northeastern China, strengthens the theory that the flight mechanism of dinosaurs and birds does not appear to have arisen from a common evolutionary process. The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, are based on the analysis of an exceptionally well-preserved fossil of a small, bird-like carnivorous dinosaur from the group of microraptors, which was found in a geolo…
New find offers clues about the intermediate stages that led from feathered dinosaurs to modern birds
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