At 5:45 AM on the 29th of April 2015, a discovery was published "in China, a new dinosaur has been discovered, its name; Yi Qi mandarin for "strange wing". " This astonishing dinosaur was the size of a common pigeon (Columba livia) and had feathers, all over its body. But the thing is, is that's not the animal's most remarkable feature. Each of Yi's hands had a long bony rod extending from the wrist, this rod seemed to support a membrane, much like that of a flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) or bat (Myotis Lucifugus). Yi Qi was a dinosaur with bat-like wings, it might have used these bat-like wings to glide like a flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus), or to flap like a bat (Myotis Lucifugus), we simply don't know. Scientists are still trying to understand how this dinosaur's membranes were attached. Each theory suggests different flight patterns.
All-in-all, Yi Qi has shown us that not all dinosaurs who evolved flight, used feathers to help them fly. We now know this one group had this strange adaptation instead. This very strange dinosaur has just shown us just how diverse dinosaurs were, and that we are just looking at the tip of the iceberg of dinosaur species. We could always find another Yi Qi that changes our whole perspective of things.
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Paleoprofile: Yi Qi
Non-FictionToday we look at the brand new (2015 new...) dinosaur bat, Yi Qi! (or Pervolonovis, in Latin)
