Posted on 05/13/2019 6:30:28 AM PDT by ETL
Dubbed Ambopteryx longibrachium, the blue jay-sized theropod lived 163 million years ago during the Jurassic period.
Its wings were made of a soft membrane attached to long arm bones which, when spread, resembled those of a bat. ..."
The researchers first thought it was a bird when they saw it in the rock, but after they dug it out, it became clear that Ambopteryx was a dinosaur.
The researchers aren’t sure exactly how the dinosaur, which also had feathers, looked as it took flight.
It couldn’t flap its wings, so it’s believed the creatures would simply glide.
According to the study, the discovery shows that dinosaurs took a few turns on their evolutionary journey into birds.
Flying dinosaurs usually had their feathered wings attached to long palm bones as opposed to membranous wings attached to arm bones.
Eventually feathered, palm bone-attached wings won out, which gave rise to the modern-day bird.
Ambopteryx also isn’t the first dinosaur of its kind discovered.
“The first bat-winged dinosaur, Yi qi, was described in 2015,” Dr. Steve Brusatte, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Geosciences and author of "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World," told Fox News.
“It was a hugely unexpected find, and it was very provocative.
But it was only a partial skeleton, and there was still some uncertainty about the size and shape of its skin flap, and whether it could be used as an airfoil.”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
There was a very nice subthread about this the other day, but I think it got nuked because of, well, some ill feelings expressed among the participants. That's too bad, too, because I was going to post just a link to the beginning of that. :^)
First pic of nancy Pelosi?
Where the hell is that? I gotta go see it.
Seriously?
The bat dino, of course. And don’t say it’s in Gotham.
:)
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