The discovery of a pigeon-sized dinosaur with bat-like wings has exposed bizarre twists in the early evolution of birds, said scientists in China Wednesday whose conclusions were immediately challenged.
Named Yi qi, for "Strange Wing" in Mandarin, the creature was an odd and unexpected addition to a long list of failed evolutionary experiments in flight—having sported wings of membrane rather than feathers, they said.
"It is definitely an example showing how much experimentation occurred," said palaeontologist Xu Xing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, who co-authored a study in the journal Nature.
"Close to the origin of birds (from dinosaurs)... many lineages tried in a different way to get into the air, but finally only one group succeeded."
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