Dinosaur find: Velociraptor ancestor was 'winged dragon' (xpost from Science)

[KamaAina]

By Victoria Gill

Scientists have discovered a winged dinosaur - an ancestor of the velociraptor - that they say was on the cusp of becoming a bird.

The 6ft 6in (2m) creature was almost perfectly preserved in limestone, thanks to a volcanic eruption that had buried it in north-east China.

And the 125-million year-old fossil suggests many other dinosaurs, including velociraptors, would have looked like "big, fluffy killer birds".

But it is unlikely that it could fly.



more

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33510288



h/t n2doc

[hobbit709]

1. A 6 foot chicken with TEETH!

[WestCoastLib]

2. Remember kids...

Dinosaurs look more like this


than this

[Cleita]

3. I always thought those tiny forearms on T-Rexes might have been

wing bones. They wouldn't have to fly, but there could have been an advantage in running giving the creature some buoyancy and more speed. But I'm not a scientist so it's just a "what if" on my part.

[Warren DeMontague]

6. sexual tickling.

I'm not making this up.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120314192111AAk7y0Y

[eShirl]

4. basilisk

[Warren DeMontague]

5. Kind of looks like a Chicken on Mescaline.

I bet they tasted like Chicken, too.

[KamaAina]

8. Well, alligators do.

As I can personally testify from a visit to the French Quarter.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. I believe it.

I bet you have to cook the crap out of em, first, though.

[KamaAina]

10. And/or serve them in a Cajun-style sauce piquant.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

7. That's a lot of tail feathers to shake...

and, if it has wings, why don't they think it can fly?
The article didn't mention what the bones were like.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Next time the conures get frisky

I will have to remember, no teeth.

[scarletlib]

12. Wow! An awesome creature.

[cwydro]

13. That bird reminds me of my rooster.

Henry (the rooster) just HAS to be a direct descendant.