Researchers discover dinky flying dinosaur fossil in China

Source: AP

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

«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.

. . .

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

. . .

«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.

Read more: http://www.pr-inside.com/researchers-discover-dinky-flying-dinosaur-r432841.htm

it's a bird ancestor.

edit: I found a picture. :)




"Nemicolopterus crypticus is a basal dsungaripteroid in a sister-group relationship with the Ornithocheiroidea," Wang continued, "The Ornithocheiroidea includes the pterosaurs, some reaching gigantic sizes with wingspans of 6 m (Pteranodon) and 10 m (Quetzalcoatlus)... these originated from crestless and toothless small insectivorous arboreal forms."

It only makes sense that the flying dinosaurs came in small sizes and it has always been puzzling to me that historical records (up to now) only had the really big ones.

Pretty picture.

Bigger bodies means more bones and larger bones.

And that increases the likelihood of some part of the animal surviving for 65-150 million years. There's the occasional fluke preserved in superb condition, but most of the smallest pterosaur bones have been crushed, broken beyond recognition, or eroded over the millenia, whereas larger bones have a better chance of surviving.

David Unwin wrote an excellent book on pterosaurs, which explains it in much better detail: http://www.amazon.com/Pterosaurs-Deep-David-M-Unwin/dp/013146308X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202785443&sr=1-3

Yes, it's a flying reptile, but they weren't dinosaurs (whatever the AP sub-editor who chose the headline thinks), and they weren't the ancestors of birds either.

Diagram of groups in archosauria

Note dinosauria and pterosauria are separate groups - as are crocodiles.

HS Biology was SO long ago. :)

It's a Pterosaur. It's only a little bit more closely related to birds than crocodiles are. Pterosaurs split off the archosaur line from dinosaurs over 225 million years ago. Archeopteryx, which is considered to be close to the origin of birds, for comparison is about 150 million years old.

thanks for the info.

like all those other dinosaur bones!:sarcasm:

One of my nicknames for my pet chicken is "Dinosaur Feet". Scales, claws, beak- yup, a little dino.

They are always pounding their chests about the gaps in the fossil record.

You add the story today about how certain insects are evolving to ignore pesticides and there goes the argument that nobody's ever seen evolution in action.

Of course, reality doesn't impress these folks, only their Guy-in-the-Sky fantasies matter.

Lots and lots of modern folk are born without room for the full set of 32 teeth, hence the most common form of oral surgery: removal of wisdom teeth (third molars). Our diets have changed, and our jaws have selectively become shorter/smaller.

More? You want more? Well, a considerable number of people are born without an appendix. And of course, the appendix probably used to be a cecum. Girls are reaching puberty at an ever-earlier age. And women are having babies later and later in life.

As we develop longer life spans and more medical and health advances, and as climate/activity/workload/and more change, the human physiology and mental capacity that best cope with such changes will be favored, and these select people will be favored with success in life, and success favors the best choice of mates. And so on.

We don't have to look as far back as the dinos!

how much of that can be blamed on hormones added to beef and dairy cows?

Better diet has made an impact.

Elimination of various childhood disease might be a factor, reducing the stresses that might slow maturation.

The rise of centrally headed dwellings in northern regions has made a greater impact. Puberty still occurs at an earlier age in warmer climates.

A reservoir of beneficial bacteria live there in the event that the general population inside the gut is wiped-out by an infection.

Our jaws aren't going to change just due to our diet. For natural selection to work, there has to be some sort of competitive advantage to the mutation. In all the examples you've given above, the bad effect can either be countered with surgery (molars, appendicies), is an environmental effect (early puberty and longer life spans) or is a social effect (later babies and activity/workload). The latter two are not genetically determined and none inhibit or aid in reproductive success. Your rate of reproductive success is not determined by whether or not you have an appendix and you are just as likely to pass an appendix on to your children than not.

A real example of human evolution should prove the point. Take sickle-cell anemia. It tends to be rather common in places where malaria is a threat. Part of the sickle-cell allele protects against malaria and most sufferers will survive long enough to pass it on to their children (although the sickle-cell trait is recessive). The Allele is therefore much more rare outside areas where malaria is common.

The big difference here is that children who get malaria die before reproducing and passing on their genes. The children who have molars removed get ice cream afterwards.

I sure didn't get ice cream...just pain killers that didn't really work, and soup through a straw for a week. Most people getting their wisdom teeth removed are around 15-18 years old, and are no longer "children"; I was 16.

wonder why it should cross it ?

So sayeth kestrel.

Sic him Rex