In the world of dinosaurs, the raptor rules like some sort of a pop-culture bogeyman. Although the new discovery is not as big as the T. Rex, the fossilized feathered creature had a mean set of teeth and claws, and it is believed to have dominion over the skies.
Scientists decided to call this new raptorial dinosaur named Changyuraptor yangi,as iit doesn't only flew, it also had four wings, studded with the longest feathers found among all dinosaurs, according to lead researcher, Luis Chiappe, of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.
The article by Chiappe and colleagues reported it measured about four feet long and weighed about nine pounds, like three times the weight of a regular seagull. However, what it lacked in size is made up for in significance, researchers said.
The creature is categorized under "microraptorine." According to some shared documents, the fossilss are important for testing hypotheses explaining the origin and early evolution of avian flight. The long feathered tail provides details into the flight performance of microraptorines and how they may have maintained aerial competency with creatures of larger scales.
This dinosaur's flight and landing depended on its tail. Usually, animals of more substantial size fly faster, making landing a treacherous business. The Changyu - which means "long-feathered" in Chinese - handled this problem with a feathered tail "instrumental for decreasing descent speed and assuring a safe landing," the study explained. As Chiappe told Slate, such landings were similar to the "way you land in a plane." Changyuraptors "needed to slow down and pitch their nose up. Otherwise, they would crash."
It's a matter of debate whether the creature glided or flapped. Chiappe's money is on the latter. "Everyone agrees they were capable of becoming airborne somehow - and I think they took off from the ground flapping," he said. "They couldn't have been able to climb trees like that."
"This was an unexpected discovery," Chiappe told The Post. "But it plays a role in the early junction in the evolution of flight."
