Science

Ancient lizard found inside the fossilised stomach of a DINOSAUR in China 


A never-seen-before species of lizard is found INSIDE fossilized stomach of a dinosaur in China 

  • Paleontologists discovered Microraptor with remains of nearly complete lizard 
  • Animal, named Indrasaurus wangi, unlike previously known from Cretaceous 
  • Unique teeth compared to others from Jehol Biota, 130million-year-old fossils

A new species of lizard has been found in the stomach of a dinosaur in China.

A team of palaeontologists discovered the Microraptor with the remains of a nearly complete lizard preserved in its stomach.

The animal is unlike any previously known from the Cretaceous and represents a new species, Indrasaurus wangi, researchers said.

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Palaeontologists have discovered a new species of lizard inside the stomach of a Microraptor in China. Pictured: an illustration of a microraptor eating a lizard

Palaeontologists have discovered a new species of lizard inside the stomach of a Microraptor in China. Pictured: an illustration of a microraptor eating a lizard

It had teeth different to those previously known from the Jehol Biota – a collection of 130-million-year-old fossils from northeastern China.

Researchers said this possibly suggested a unique diet for this new species, which was discovered by a team of palaeontologists led by Professor Jingmai O’Connor from the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The discovery is the fourth documented case of a Microraptor preserving stomach contents.

It had teeth unlike any other previously known from the Jehol Biota - a collection of 130-million-year-old fossils from northeastern China. Pictured: the Microraptor, with its stomach highlighted

It had teeth unlike any other previously known from the Jehol Biota – a collection of 130-million-year-old fossils from northeastern China. Pictured: the Microraptor, with its stomach highlighted

WHAT ARE MICRORAPTORS? 

Microraptors are small, four-winged dinosaurs first discovered nearly 20 years ago. Numerous Microraptor fossils have been discovered in Liaoning, China. 

Adult Microraptors were 2.53ft (77cm) long, and weighed up to 2.2lb (1kg). The dinosaurs had long feathers across their bodies. 

Microraptors have been useful for scientists studying the evolution from dinosaur to modern-day birds.  

The dinosaur is now known to have fed on mammals, birds, fish, and lizards, supporting the interpretation it was an opportunistic predator.

‘This is an independent origin of flight separate from birds,’ she says. ‘It flew with four wings,’ Professor O’Connor told New Scientist.

Published in Current Biology, the study sets out that the lizard is nearly complete and articulated, showing that it was swallowed whole and head first.

This proves the Microraptor fed in a manner similar to living carnivorous birds and lizards.

Although the Jurassic troodontid Anchiornis dinosaur has been recently demonstrated to have egested pellets similar to extant carnivorous birds – most famously documented in owls – this ability was apparently absent in Microraptor, researchers said.





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