Scientists Discover New Winged Dinosaur, Ancestor of Velociraptor

Scientists have found a new dinosaur that was large, winged and feathered—but probably unable to fly.

The creature, which measures 6 ft., 6 in. long, was well preserved in limestone in northeast China about 125 million years ago. It is an ancestor of the velociraptor, and is believed to be a precursor to the true bird, since this species was too large for its wings to support flight.

The dinosaur is called “Zhenyuanlong,” meaning Zhenyuan’s dragon, after the man who obtained the fossil for the museum that studied it. One researcher told the BBC that even though it is a dinosaur, its feathers mean it would have looked “exactly like a turkey or a vulture.”

[BBC]