Around 125 million years ago, a mule-sized dinosaur with a long
tail and short, resplendently-feathered wings roamed a corner of what is now
northeastern China.
Researchers
revealed the discovery of Zhenyuanlong suni, a close relative of its far more
famous cousin -- the velociraptor, after publishing a photo of a remarkably
preserved fossil.
The relic shows
the complete skeleton of the animal, as well as its skull displayed in profile.
Clearly visible around the creature's short arms are a pattern of long
feathers, which also appear to have decorated the dinosaur's tail.
"The cool
thing here is that it is a dinosaur that looks a lot like a bird," says
Stephen Brusatte, a Scotland-based paleontologist who is one of the co-authors
of the report.
The discovery
has left scientists with a question.
"This is
the first time that we have wings found on a dinosaur this big with short arms.
There's no way it could fly," Brusatte explains, in a phone interview with
CNN.
"That
raises a big mystery. Why did dinosaurs evolve wings?"
Dinosaur
'Pompeii'
A farmer who has asked to remain
anonymous first found the Zhenyuanlong fossil in China's Liaoning province.
For nearly
twenty years, this area has been fertile ground for dinosaur discoveries.
It's where the first solid evidence proving dinosaurs had
feathers was found in 1996, says Xu Xing, a paleontologist at the Chinese
Academy of Sciences in Beijing.
"After that
first discovery, thousands of specimens, thousands of fossils from different
species and different times were discovered in Liaoning," Xu says.
"It's a
dinosaur version of Pompei," says Brusatte.
The region's unique volcanic activity in the Early Cretaceous
Period is believed to have preserved fossils far better than in other parts of
the world.
Consequently,
Liaoning Province has become synonymous in paleontology circles with feathered
dinosaurs.
Xu - himself an
accomplished dinosaur hunter who claims to have discovered more than 50 new
species - says Zhenyuanlong will help scientists determine how dinosaurs first
began to fly.
Why would dinosaur need wings?
In their report, Brusatte and his
co-author Junchang Lu were left speculating why a flightless, two-meter long
animal would have needed wings.
"It may be
that such large wings comprised of multiple layers of feathers were useful for
display purposes," they wrote in Thursday's issue of the journal
Scientific Reports, where the discovery was announced.
The wings may have also helped the dinosaur glide for
indeterminate distances.
Artist Chuang
Zhao worked with the scientists to paint a vivid depiction of what Zhenyuanlong
may have looked like.
The painting
depicts the beast dashing through a prehistoric forest, with sharp talons on
its front and back legs emerging from a luxurious coat of feathers.
Spurred by
growth in the funding of scientific research, China has become a treasure trove
for dinosaur hunters in recent decades.
The Chinese word
for dinosaur is konglong, which also translates as "terrifying
dragon." The dragon is a potent symbol in Chinese culture.
It is not
surprising that co-author Lu added the dragon suffix "long" to the
name of his newest feathered discovery.
"We believe
it is nice to put some Chinese color on these dinosaurs," explains Xu, the
Beijing-based paleontologist. He says he has also called several of his own
dinosaur discoveries "dragon."
"We are
proud that there were some ancient animals living here on this land," Xu
says.
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