chattanova
14-06-2007, 11:05 PM
http://img36.picoodle.com/img/img36/8/6/14/f_13cnddino45m_71d0df6.jpg
Scientists have uncovered a huge surprise in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China: the fossil skeleton of an unusually robust bird-like dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago. The animal appeared to be a young adult 25 feet long and weighing 3,000 pounds and, if it had lived longer, would probably have grown even larger.
Paleontologists said the discovery contradicted widely-held theories that carnivorous dinosaurs got smaller as they evolved more bird-like characteristics. But they emphasized that the new specimen did not challenge the theorized dinosaur-bird link.
The Chinese scientists who made the discovery, being reported today in the journal Nature, said the skeleton belonged to a dinosaur family that included the beaked, bird-like Oviraptor. This family was not closely related to the dromaeosaurid dinosaurs generally thought to be ancestors of modern birds.
But the scientists concluded that the new skeleton “is an exception to some general patterns” during the evolution of related dinosaurs, including the “trend of size decrease” that is associated with the origin of birds. They said it was significant that the large specimen “shows many bird-like features absent” in smaller relatives.
http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/8/6/14/f_13cnddino65m_cc04ff4.jpg
Scientists have uncovered a huge surprise in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China: the fossil skeleton of an unusually robust bird-like dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago. The animal appeared to be a young adult 25 feet long and weighing 3,000 pounds and, if it had lived longer, would probably have grown even larger.
Paleontologists said the discovery contradicted widely-held theories that carnivorous dinosaurs got smaller as they evolved more bird-like characteristics. But they emphasized that the new specimen did not challenge the theorized dinosaur-bird link.
The Chinese scientists who made the discovery, being reported today in the journal Nature, said the skeleton belonged to a dinosaur family that included the beaked, bird-like Oviraptor. This family was not closely related to the dromaeosaurid dinosaurs generally thought to be ancestors of modern birds.
But the scientists concluded that the new skeleton “is an exception to some general patterns” during the evolution of related dinosaurs, including the “trend of size decrease” that is associated with the origin of birds. They said it was significant that the large specimen “shows many bird-like features absent” in smaller relatives.
http://img37.picoodle.com/img/img37/8/6/14/f_13cnddino65m_cc04ff4.jpg