Yi qi
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Yi is one of the weirdest dinosaurs ever discovered. It's a Scansoriopterygid, a small feathered tree-dwelling dinosaur with long fingers. Scansoriopterygids were thought to use their long fingers to pick insects out of trees like the aye-aye. And then along came Yi. The only known fossil of Yi preserves an elongate styliform element, a novel bone coming out of the wrist. A similar structure made of cartilage is found in flying squirrels. It also preserves evidence of a bare patagium, indicating a bare wing membrane and a completely new wing configuration in dinosaurs. The scientists who discovered it had to do multiple tests on the fossil to ensure it wasn't faked! Yi also preserves feathers, including weird paintbrush-shaped featers, and melanosomes. The melanosomes show us the body is grayish-black, while the head and wings are brown. Yi is still thought to be an insectivore, albeit one that glided or even flew through the trees instead of climbing. |
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