Archaeoraptor's better half
Abstract
The 'Archaeoraptor' fossil, once proclaimed as a key intermediate between carnivorous dinosaurs and birds but now known to be a forgery, is a chimaera formed of bird and dromaeosaur parts. Although the non-avialan dinosaur tail of this controversial specimen from the Early Cretaceous Period of China has been identified, the avialan parts of the specimen have not. Here we reveal that these avialan parts, including the hindlimbs, which were previously designated as unverifiable ``attached bones'', can be referred to a single species, Yanornis martini, and are supported as pieces of a single, almost complete specimen. A new specimen that is also referable to this species, and which has its gut contents preserved, indicates that the principal part of this false raptor dinosaur-bird fossil is in fact a fish-eating bird.
- Publication:
-
Nature
- Pub Date:
- November 2002
- DOI:
- 10.1038/420285a
- Bibcode:
- 2002Natur.420..285Z