我国发现新恐龙 蝙蝠翅膀疑似鸟类祖先

A bizarre new dinosaur with bat-like wings has been discovered by a farmer in China and is now helping to shed new light on the evolution of flight.

中国的一名农民之前曾发现了一种长着蝙蝠翅膀的恐龙化石，现在有关该化石的研究将对动物飞行的演化等具有启示。

Palaeontologists in China say the impeccably preserved fossil belongs to a small dinosaur thought to have lived 160 million years ago.

中国的古生物学家称这块被完好保存的化石来自于一种生活在1.6亿年前的小型恐龙。

The strange-looking creature had small stiff feathers on its body and long finger-like bones extending from each wrist that were covered in a membrane like a bat’s wing.

这种外形奇特的生物身上有着小而短的僵硬羽毛，两只腕部各有一个棒状长骨，并覆盖着一层像蝙蝠翅膀的翼膜。

Scientists believe the dinosaur, which they have named Yi qi, meaning ‘strange wing’, may have glided or even flown through the air.

科学家们成这种生物为“奇翼龙，并认为它可以滑行甚至做短距离的飞行。

The discovery has provided new insight into how vertebrates first began to take to the air.

奇翼龙的发现对解释脊椎动物是如何开始飞向天空的具有重要意义。

Yi qi belongs the group of carnivorous dinosaurs known as the therapods - which includes Tyranosaurus rex and velociraptor.

奇翼龙属于霸王龙和迅猛龙所在的一种名为兽脚亚目食肉恐龙的类群中。

These dinosaurs are thought to have been the ancestors of modern birds.

这一类群被认为是现代鸟类的祖先。

But unlike modern birds, Yi qi was found to have a strange extra bone extending backwards from its wrist, rather like an entirely separate group of animals that learned to fly - the bats.

但与现代的鸟类不同，奇翼龙腕部有一个棒状长骨。类似的结构从来没有在其他恐龙中发现过，但在一些会飞的四足动物比如蝙蝠身上发现过。

Professor Xing Xu, one of the world’s leading prolific palaeontologists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and who led the work, said: 'This is really something for me. It is the most unexpected discovery I ever made.

中国科学院古脊椎与古人类研究所古生动物学家徐星教授说：“这次发现对我很重要，是最出乎我意料的一项发现。

'Birds are descended from dinosaurs, but how exactly the transition occurred is not really clear. This new discovery is a new species of these bird like dinosaurs.

“鸟类是由恐龙进化而来的，但是具体的转变过程如何至今仍不清楚。

'This dinosaur is totally different. It has totally different wings from all other birds and their close relatives.'

“奇翼龙非常的与众不同，它有着与其他鸟类及近亲完全不同的翅膀。

The Yi qi fossil was discovered by a local farmer in Mutoudeng, in Qinglong County, Hebei Province in China.

奇翼龙的化石是河北青龙县当地的一位农民发现的。

Analysis by Professor Xu and his colleagues, which is published in the journal Nature, suggest that it is likely the dinosaur glided, perhaps like modern flying squirrels.

徐星教授及同事的研究分析结果发表在了《自然》期刊上，表明了奇翼龙可能能够像现代鼯鼠那样滑行。

It is likely that the conclusions will be controversial with other evolutionary biologists, but it could prove hugely valuable in unravelling how birds evolved from their dinosaur ancestors.

这项结论可能会引起其他进化生物学家的和争议，但它对解释鸟类是如何从恐龙进化而来的问题有着重要的启示。

Professor Zheng Xiaoting, from Linyi University in Shandong who also took part in the study, said: 'Yi qi lived in the Jurassic, so it was a pioneer in the evolution of flight on the line to birds.

参与该项研究的山东临沂大学的郑晓廷教授说：“奇翼龙生活在侏罗纪时代，所以它算是鸟类支系飞翔演化过程中的一个先锋。

'It reminds us that the early history of flight was full of innovations, not all of which survived.'

“它提醒我们，在飞翔演化的早期历史中，充满了创新尝试。

Dr Kevin Padian, a palaeontologist at the University of California Berkeley, warned that the animal may not have been able to fly at all.

但是加州大学伯克利分校的凯文·帕丁恩警告称奇翼龙可能根本就不会飞。

He said: ‘Still, we are left in a quandary: an animal with a strange structure that looks as if it could have been used in flight, borne by an animal that otherwise shows no such tendencies.

他说：“我们仍然陷入了一种困境：一种有着奇特的、看起来能够有助于飞行的结构的动物，却是由一种没有显现出飞行趋势的动物生出来的。

‘And so far, there is no other plausible explanation for the function of this structure.’

“到目前为止，对于这种结构的功能还缺少更有力可信的解释。