An artist's conception of the bird-like feathered dinosaur Anchiornis. (Photo: Julius T. Csotonyi.)
This chicken-sized dinosaur likely sported a red mohawk and wasn't anywhere near the top of the food chain — it probably fed primarily on bugs and small lizards.
But researchers now have a better idea of what this small species of feathered dinosaur looked like, giving a fresh glimpse into the origin of flight.
High-powered lasers scanned ancient fossils of the creature and "revealed the first high-detail outline of a feathered dinosaur, so it's a real landmark in our understanding of avian (bird) origins," said paleontologist Michael Pitmann of the University of Hong Kong, the lead author of the study published Tuesday.
The dinosaur's name is Anchiornis — meaning "near bird" — and lived 160 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period. Its features included bird-like arms and legs, a slender tail and footpads.
Scientists first found fossils of the species in 2009 in northeastern China, and some were in remarkably good shape. Pittman said it's rare to find a well-preserved dinosaur fossil from which the animal's actual appearance can be gleaned.
High-powered lasers revealed unseen soft tissues preserved alongside the bones, he said. The process, known as "laser-stimulated fluorescence," uncovered details about the dinosaur invisible under regular light. The scientists found the dinosaur shared many of the characteristics of modern birds, including drumstick-shaped legs.
"We even have foot scales preserved in the Anchiornis specimens that are just like chickens today," Pittman said.
However, scientists weren't able to determine if the creature could fly or if it merely scurried around on the ground and up into trees.
Still, the research is "very important for understanding the origin of birds and the origin of flight since it was around this time that the first birds appeared," Pittman said.
The study appeared Tuesday in the peer-reviewed British journal Nature Communications.
The wing of the bird-like feathered dinosaur Anchiornis under laser-stimulated fluorescence. The folds of skin in front of the elbow and behind the wrist (called patagia) were covered in feathers, just like in modern living birds. (Photo: Wang XL, Pittman M et al. 2017.)
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