They find a strange hybrid between a dinosaur and a bird

This remarkable, complete fossilized skeleton of a bird that lived in what is now China some 120 million years ago is an odd mix between a bird and a dinosaur. The researchers responsible for the discovery, led by paleontologist Zhou Zhonghe of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he isAs for baptized Kratonavis choi.

the Fossil analysis He started using high-resolution computed tomography with the skull. Using digital copies of the mineralized bones, the team reconstructed them The original form and function of the skull. The result shows that a skull Kratonavis Much like the shape of dinosaurs like tyrannosaurus rexinstead of looking like a bird.

Specifically, in the bird evolutionary tree, Kratonavis It seems to lie in between Archeopteryxsimilar to a long-tailed reptile, and ornithoraceswhich has already evolved many of the traits of modern birds.

The fossil has a surprisingly long scapula (shoulder blade) and first metatarsal (foot bone), very rare features.

As he explains Li ZhihengLead author of the study: A dinosaur skull and the body of a bird in a rare fossil from the Cretaceous period: “The primitive skull features speak to the fact that most Cretaceous birds like Cratonavis could not move their upper beak independently of the brain and lower jaw, a functional innovation widely distributed among living birds that contributes to their enormous biodiversity.”

It was also interesting to note that the fossil had a surprisingly long scapula (shoulder blade) and first metatarsal (foot bone), characteristics rarely seen in fossils of other dinosaur ancestors of birds. and that they are completely absent in modern birds.

Today it is widely accepted that birds descended from dinosaurs, but paleontologists still have many questions about how, in detail, this process occurred. The discovery of this strange fossil could help clarify the mystery.

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