In China, found the remains of an ancient bird with the head of a tyrannosaurus
Paleontologists, examining the bottom of a shallow lake in the Chinese province of Liaoning, have discovered an unusual bird skeleton. Its age was estimated at 120 million years, according to The Daily Mail.
Scientists have noticed that the bird's skull is remarkably similar to the skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex, although it is much smaller in size – less than two centimeters long. It exhibits a rare combination of dinosaur and bird traits.
A research team based at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing performed computed tomography (CT) scans and created a digital 3D reconstruction of a fossilized bird skeleton. They found that this creature belongs to an extinct group called the enanciornis.
Such birds were very common in the Cretaceous period. They lived next to dinosaurs and with the ancestors of modern birds and disappeared after the impact of an asteroid 66 million years ago.
Scientists noted that their main distinguishing feature is square bone. In modern birds, this is one of the most mobile bones of the skull. It allows the upper jaw to move independently of the base of the skull and the lower jaw.
In dinosaurs, the square bone was rigidly fixed and could not move. Scientists have noticed the same feature in the Chinese bird. Research has shown that it also has two bony arches for attaching jaw muscles, similar to reptiles such as lizards, alligators, and dinosaurs.
This discovery helped to complement the family tree of prehistoric birds, as well as to better understand the evolution of various species of birds. Earlier it was reported that scientists have discovered the oldest prehistoric bird. It is over 60 million years old.
