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TOPIC: Epidexipteryx hui

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Oct 23 00:32 2008

RE: Epidexipteryx hui	Permalink

Epidexipteryx displayed an unexpected combination of physical features Read more __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Oct 22 20:32 2008

Bird ancestor, Epidexipteryx hui	Permalink

A bucktoothed, feathered creature resembling Rod Hulls Emu has been identified as one of the first dinosaurs to begin the evolution into birds. The dinosaur had four long tail feathers, which indicate that the ancestors of birds indulged in pea****-like courtship displays long before they learnt to fly. Researchers, who named the bizarre dinosaur Epidexipteryx hui, dated it to between 152 million and 168 million years ago, in the Jurassic period, though they said that it could be considerably older. Read more __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Oct 22 17:33 2008

Epidexipteryx hui	Permalink

A new stage in the early history of birds is published in the most recent issue of the journal Nature (online 22 October). The discovery of a bizarre feathered dinosaur, named Epidexipteryx hui, from the Middle to Late Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China that is probably flightless adds complexity to our understanding so far. The pigeon-sized creature lived a little before Archaeopteryx and is bird-like in many ways. It is characterised by an unexpected combination of characters seen in several different theropod groups, particularly the Oviraptorosauria. Phylogenetic analysis shows it to be the sister taxon to Epidendrosaurus, forming a new clade at the base of Avialae. Epidexipteryx also possesses two pairs of elongate ribbon-like tail feathers, and its limbs lack contour feathers for flight. Source: Nature __________________

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