Tiny Dinosaur with Bat-Like Wings Discovered in China

Artist’s impression of the new dinosaur Yi qi. Credit: Dinostar Co. Ltd Scientists have long known that modern birds are the descendants of dinosaurs. Many small dinosaurs in the late Jurassic period even had feathers. Now, paleontologists in China say that they’ve identified the fossils of one of the earliest flying dinosaurs, but its wings are nothing like those of modern birds. They’re so different, in fact, that paleontologists Xu Xing and Zheng Xiaoting named the little dinosaur Yi qi (pronounced “ee chee”), which means “strange wing” in Mandarin. Despite being a close relative of feathered birds, Yi qi had wings that looked more like those of modern bats or flying squirrels. The discovery raises more questions about the origins of flight.