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JURASSIC REALITY: Raptor’s Ancestor Was ‘Winged Dragon’
21st Century Wire says…
Every week now it seems we get to get another story of an amazing archeological discovery.
Watch a video of this report here:
Living on earth around 125 million years ago was an ancestor of the well known Velociraptor, of Jurassic Park fame, now called the Zhenyuanlong Suni. This beast was also a carnivore and clocked in at around two meters in length, it also boasted impressed feathered wings which have led to it being called a ‘Winged Dragon’.
This species was just discovered in ancient lake beds in China’s Liaoning Province, where its fossil was perfectly preserved by lava flows. All of the findings were published in the Scientific Reports journal.
Perfectly preserved. (Photo Credit: Junchang Lü)
While the wings are impressive, it is unlikely that a beast of this size could have used them to fly. Research Steve Brusatte said, ‘when you see a dinosaur like this that’s pretty big, and has these short arms and bird-like wings, it begs that question: what are wings really for? We used to think pretty much anything that had wings was flying, but that’s not so clear now’.
This ‘Winged Dragon’ joins a raft of other incredible archeological discoveries made this year, such as 3.3 million year old stone tools being found in Kenya and a 2.8 million year old human found in Ethiopia. A wide variety of theories are also being explored in relation to the Pyramids and Ark of the Covenant.
How many more species do you think are still waiting to be found?
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Zhenyuanlong suni: biggest ever winged dinosaur is found in China
An ancient feathered creature dug up in northeastern China is the largest winged dinosaur ever found, researchers say.
The fossil of the prehistoric raptor is so well preserved that scientists have been able to reconstruct its impressive plumage, from the tiny feathers on its head and neck, to the larger quill pen-like feathers that sprout from its tail and substantial wings.
A cousin of the velociraptor made famous by the Jurassic Park movies, the carnivore two metres in length lived 125m years ago in the region where dense forests became home to some of the first flowering plants.
Named Zhenyuanlong suni, the new species shared the land with a huge variety of other creatures. Dinosaurs were abundant, among them Yutyrannus huali, the “feathered tyrant”. On the ground beneath their feet lived salamanders, amphibians and plenty of mammals, including the badger-sized beast, repenomamus, which dined on dead dinosaurs…
Continue reading the full story on The Guardian
READ MORE ON ANCIENT HISTORY: 21st Century Wire Ancient History Files
21st Century Wire is an alternative news agency designed to enlighten, inform and educate readers about world events which are not always covered in the mainstream media.
Source: http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/07/16/jurassic-reality-raptors-ancestor-was-winged-dragon/
