久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

   

Tiny dinosaur fossil found in China

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-12 10:29

WASHINGTON - As pterodactyls go it was small, toothless and had unexpectedly curved toes — yet scientists are welcoming their new find as another piece in the puzzle of ancient life.


This undated handout artist rendering provided by the PNAS/National Academy of Sciences shows a life reconstruction of Nemicolopterus crypticus, a small derived flying reptile that lived in the gingko forests that existed some 120 million years ago in present China. As pterodactyls go it was small, toothless and had unexpectedly curved toes — yet scientists are welcoming their new find as another piece in the puzzle of ancient life. [Agencies]

"We have this really amazing creature, sparrow sized, which lived essentially in the trees, showing us a very new, very interesting side of the evolutionary history of those animals," said Alexander W. A. Kellner of the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"We would never have thought of it," Kellner said in a telephone interview.

The find, by researchers led by Wang Xiaolin of the Chinese Academy of Science, is reported in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pterodactyls are best known from giant examples of the ancient flying reptiles, and most specimens have been uncovered in coastal areas.

Dubbed Nemicolopterus crypticus — hidden flying forest dweller — the new fossil was uncovered in the western part of China's Liaoning province, a region that was forested when it lived there about 120 million years ago.

"We just had one side of the story of pterosaur evolution, Kellner said. "This is now providing us with information about pterosaurs that were living deep inside the continent."

"It's a new species. It's showing us a new chapter of the evolutionary history of those animals," Kellner went on.

Speaking at a news conference in Rio on Monday, Kellner said the find "opens a brand new chapter in the history of the evolution of these flying vertebrates."

The curved toes, he said, indicate that the pterosaurs lived most of the time in trees.

"Because they were flying animals, their fossils are extremely rare. So, discoveries such as this are fundamental to understand the evolution of these winged vertebrates," he said.

It was the smallest of its group of flying pterosaurs, he said, and when first uncovered the researchers thought it was a baby.

The skull was not fully fused, meaning it was not yet an adult, but the ends of the bones were developed, so it was not a hatchling either.

"How much could it grow? We have no idea," he said. "But even if it would double its size it would still be the smallest of its particular group."

The researchers said the legs and feet of Nemicolopterus had attachments for muscles indicating that it could grasp limbs, and unlike most pterodactyls, it lacked teeth. They speculated it might have eaten insects.

Matthew Carrano, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, said some smaller specimens have been found but those were clearly younger than this animal.

"It is interesting to see some clear arboreal adaptations in this species," said Carrano, who was not on the research team. "It confirms a suspicion we had, that pterosaurs were more diverse in their habitats than we knew from the record."

"Once again, the Liaoning region is bringing out all sorts of new things," Carrano said.

   1 2 3 4   


Top China News  
Today's Top News  
Most Commented/Read Stories in 48 Hours
主站蜘蛛池模板: 特级毛片www欧美 | 欧美成人www在线观看网页 | 久久亚洲精品一区成人 | 国产精品免费大片 | 亚洲人成在线观看 | 欧美色视频在线观看 | 中文字幕在线看视频一区二区三区 | 国产合集91合集久久日 | 国产经典一区 | 日韩欧美成末人一区二区三区 | 在线播放精品一区二区啪视频 | 日韩在线小视频 | 免费观看日本高清a毛片 | yy6080久久亚洲精品 | 一本久道在线 | 国产精品_国产精品_国产精品 | 欧美成 人h版在线观看 | 日产国产精品久久久久久 | 免费看欧美xxx片 | 久久精品香蕉视频 | 精品一区二区三区的国产在线观看 | 国产大片线上免费看 | 福利网址在线 | 国产精品久久久久三级 | 草草视频手机在线观看视频 | 中文字幕99在线精品视频免费看 | 久久亚洲国产精品五月天 | 久久精品视频免费在线观看 | 亚欧人成精品免费观看 | 国产精品久久久天天影视香蕉 | 一级毛片在线播放免费 | 国产精品国产欧美综合一区 | 精品在线视频免费观看 | 国产成人免费午夜性视频 | 成人欧美日韩高清不卡 | 亚洲天堂免费在线视频 | 在线观看国产一区二三区 | 一级特黄爽大片刺激 | 女人张开腿给男人桶爽免费 | 精品国产免费久久久久久 | 91精品国产综合久久青草 |