“Our discovery of Zhenyuanlong suni indicates that there is an even higher diversity of feathered dinosaurs than we thought”, added co-researcher Junchang Lü, a professor at the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. Unfortunately, the experts informed that the creature was most likely unable to fly as its wings were too small and too weak to carry an animal the size of the Feathered Poodle From Hell.
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The researchers said the fast-running meat-eater was about 1.8 metres long and covered with simple hair-like feathers over much of its body, with large, quill-like feathers on its wings and long tail.
The largest-known dinosaur with wings, it lived around 125 million years back during the Cretaceous Period.
The possible reasons offered were that Zhenyuanlong suni was a very close cousin to velociraptors, the previous villains and now heroes of the Jurassic Park franchise.
Brusatte said finding a dinosaur with traits like Zhenyuanlong’s raises questions about why wings evolved in the first place.
In their form and shape, its wings looked like those of a modern bird like an eagle or vulture. Instead, it has been deduced that the colorful display was used similar to that of a peacock, spreading its wings for flaunting to attract mates or intimidating enemies. Considering its entrance packed with distinct pearly whites and also its particular overall abnormality, University of Edinburgh paleontologist Steve Brusatte coined the dinosaur, referred to as Zhenyuanlong suni, a “downy feathered poodle from anguish”.
Stephen Brusatte, study co-author and paleontologist from Scotland, gave a statement of his own, informing that this is the first time ever that researchers have found wings on a dinosaur this big, and one with short arms.
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The fossils, which make up a near-complete skeleton, reveal that Zhenyuanlong suni may have sported a set of birdlike wings. Another possibility is using the wings to brood eggs in the nest, Brusatte said. The oldest-known bird, crow-sized Archaeopteryx, lived about 150 million years ago.
