A newly identified species of feathered dinosaur has been unearthed in China – and it is a close cousin of the Velociraptor, made famous by the Jurassic Park films.
It is the largest dinosaur ever to have been unearthed with a well-preserved set of bird-like wings, researchers said.
The dinosaur – dubbed Zhenyuanlong suni by researchers – grew to more than five feet in length, and had very short wings compared with other dinosaurs in the same family, consisting of multiple layers of large feathers.
‘The movies have it wrong – this is what Velociraptor would have looked like too,’ said Dr Steve Brusatte, who co-authored the study.
This latest discovery suggests that winged dinosaurs with larger and more complex feathers were more diverse than previously thought.
The species belonged to a family of feathered carnivores that was widespread during the Cretaceous Period, and lived around 125 million years ago, according to the team.
Source: Mail online
N.H.Khider