Intact Pterosaur Fossil with Long 'Feather' Discovered in China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, January 29, 2002

Intact Pterosaur Fossil with Long 'Feather' Discovered in China

After the discovery of feathered dinosaur fossil Chinese paleontologists have lately found feathered pterosaur fossil in Inner Mongolia.
The discovery shed lights on many academic disputes as on how the patagium is attached with the body, whether pterosaur has tail patagium,and whether pterosaurs have feather and warm blood.

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After the discovery of feathered dinosaur fossil Chinese paleontologists have lately found feathered pterosaur fossil in Inner Mongolia.

World most intact pterosaur skeleton

Unearthed in the Ningcheng County, the fossil turned out to be the most complete pterosaur skeleton with "feather" and patagium found in the world by now, and is named "Ningcheng Rehe Pterosaur".

The newly found fossil presents almost intact skeleton, delicate patagium and ancient feathers covering the whole body. Before this a few of feathered pterosaur fossils had been found but not any one as intact as this is.

Evidence to many dinosaur arguments

The fact that some kinds of dinosaurs have feathers has been academically accepted since 1996. But feathered pterosaurs, though have been found more than a decade ago, have so far not been confirmed due to lack of discovery of intact skeletons, says Wang Xiaolin, a researcher with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The discovery also shed lights on many disputes and hypothesis, says Wang. For a long time there have been disputes on how the patagium is attached with the body, The Rehe Pterosaur shows that its patagium and plaura are connected with its anklebone. There are also disputes on whether pterosaur has tail patagium, while the Rehe Pterosaur is the second of its kind that has tail patagium. It also presents evidences that some pterosaurs have feather and warm blood.

Chinese paleontologists put forward for the first time the hypothesis that pterosaur's feather and dinosaur's ancient feather are of the same origin according to their similarity, and further inferred that they have the same ancestor.

Other dinosaur discoveries in China

Liaoning--Complete fossilized dinosaur skeleton

A well-preserved 4.5-meter-long fossilized dinosaur skeleton was excavated recently in Yixian County in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Jilin--70 fossilized dinosaur eggs and skeletal remains

More than 70 fossilized dinosaur eggs and skeletal remains of dinosaurs have been unearthed in northeast China's Jilin Province.

Inner Mongolia--8 kinds of ancient vertebrate fossils

China, Belgium lately concluded their 6-year cooperation in dinosaur fossil investigation and excavation to have big archaeological finds recovered. It is the biggest of its kind in terms of quantity and quality of fossils ever brought to light in Inner Mongolia.

Gansu--World largest dinosaur footprints

Archaeological news is in the spotlight as huge dinosaur footprints were found in Yongjing county of Gansu province. Archeologists have now confirmed those footprints as the largest found anywhere in the world.

By PD Online Staff Li Heng

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