Not all dinosaurs fly the same.
New fossil evidence suggests that flight evolved in prehistoric animals in multiple ways — there were the pterosaurs, flying reptiles that we often think of as dinosaurs; "avian" dinosaurs, which eventually evolved into birds; and our newest find, a group of non-avian dinosaurs that evolved membranous wings, like a bat or a flying squirrel.
The new evidence, published in Nature on Wednesday, consists of a 163-million-year-old fossil found in the Liaoning province of China. It's the second such fossil found, but this one is a much clearer picture of the creature — even its feathers and soft tissue were preserved, Gizmodo reported. It was given the name Ambopteryx longibrachium, alluding to its similarity to pterosaurs, as well as its long forelimbs.
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When the fossil was first discovered, scientists thought it might even be the fossil of a bird, National Geographic reported. In reality, it bears more resemblance to "a little, creepy-looking dinosaur squirrel," said Jingmai O'Connor, the study's co-author. The specimen is thought to have weighed less than a pound, about the size of a pigeon.
But despite its diminutive nature, this fossil is helping scientists make big strides in studying the way flight evolved. Learn more about the ongoing research at National Geographic.