The "dancing dragon" fossil is of a new winged dinosaur that lived 120 million years ago

    The

    The analyzes on the fossil have shown that it is a hitherto unknown species, one of the links between dinosaurs and birds

    Il dancing dragon is a new species of winged dinosaur lived about 120 million years ago, just discovered by researchers.





    The small dinosaur fossil was found ten years ago in China, but to this day it was not known which species it belonged to.

    Thanks to the work of a group of paleontologists, who analyzed the find, the fossil has been attributed to a species never discovered before. It is a specimen of Wulong bohaiensis, a dinosaur slightly larger than a crow, endowed with feathers and wings and a long tail.

    Presenting Wulong, our new feathered theropod!
    Published today in The Anatomical Record, this new dinosaur tells us some interesting things about how dinosaurs, particularly dromaeosaurids, ("raptors") grew up.

    Lovely reconstruction from @SDNHM Design Director Erick Toussaint. pic.twitter.com/PCFmqensCW

    - Ashley W Poust (@AshPoust) January 15, 2020

    The small winged dinosaur is a relative of Velociraptor and Microraptor and, according to the study recently published in The Anatomical Record, the dancing dragon represents one of the rings that connect reptiles to birds.

    The fossil of the small winged dinosaur was found in an area of ​​Liaoning province very rich in finds of this type as it was once inhabited by numerous dinosaurs and primitive birds, from which modern birds would have evolved.

    I wanted to mention that research on #Wulong couldn't have happened without graduate student grants from @JurassicFDN and @ucmpberkeley . These are great institutions that make science happen. If you like new dinos, donate to places like these that support researchers! pic.twitter.com/Fn0XOXJs37

    - Ashley W Poust (@AshPoust) January 16, 2020

    The analyzes on the dancing dragon fossil they therefore provided important information on what the Earth must have looked like 120 million years ago and on how dinosaurs grew and developed.



    The fossil in fact belonged to a young man specimen of about one year of age, as the histology of the bones shows, but had an apparently complete plumage: this is particularly interesting since birds normally develop feathers after their growth is complete.

    Understanding ontogenesis, that is, how an organism develops, is useful for understanding the evolutionary relationships that have led to animals we know today.

    Just a quick evening sketch of #Wulong bohaiensis, a newly described #Microraptorine which possessed a particularly long tail ending in two long streamers (it should perhaps be a tad longer, but I misjudged and ran out of room – my bad.#palaeontology #paleoart pic.twitter.com/Iqh34rkhsn



    — Julian Kiely (@JulianPalaeoART) January 17, 2020

    Read also:

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    • Scientists have discovered the strangest dinosaur that ever lived
    • Feathered Dinosaur Tail Hidden in Amber: The Historical Discovery (PHOTO)

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