The analysis of fossils of a species of the same family found in China reveals greater similarities of Archeopteryx with the dinosaurs of the genus Deinonychosauria than with birds. The study of the remains of Xiaotingia zhengi ends a theory that lasted 150 years.
Archeopteryx has been considered for a century and a half as the first bird in history . When it was found in the German region of Bavaria in 1861, the typical features of birds such as plumage or long front limbs, led to consider that it was the first bird in the history of evolution.
The discovery of the fossil of Xiaotingia zhengi , a small animal of about 800 grams in China, has caused paleontologists to rethink that theory. The close similarities between the skulls of both species differentiate them from the genus Aviae and bring them closer to Microraptores , dinosaurs with shallow snouts and expanded regions behind the eye sockets.
The fact that feather prints were found did not prevent scientists from also noticing the presence of claws on the ends of the front legs and sharp teeth. This would fit the Xiaotingia zhengi to the family of the kidnappers and, specifically, within the group of the Deinonychus . Knowing this, neither of the two species could be considered a bird.
Although Professor Xing Xu, paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, considers that he has little data to support this hypothesis, but, as the journal Nature collects, he believes that “this new fossil has caused the fall the previous theory to pieces “.
