welcome to my dinos you are going to look at dinosaurs that can fly,swim and walk.have fun!

lunes, 18 de enero de 2010

The Nemicolopterus

Nemicolopterus


It is a long search of the scientists to find out if any new species comes into being in the recent period. Actually there were many that were shrouded in the black pal of time. The scientists with an effort to bring back the lost species continue their search round the globe. They are never baffled. They bring before us new genus, new species that were beyond our imagination. Scientists with their prolonged effort have made the impossible - possible with their untiring effort.

Nemicolopterus belong to the Pterodactyloid Pterosaur genus. Until 2008 we were not associated with the name. It is assumed that the species frequented in Jehol Biota about 120 million years back. It was not a giant bird; just a small one having a wingspan of 10 inches. It was even smaller than the species of the hatching pterosaurs. The specimen that was found by Wang in the year 2008 was nothing but the fragments of ossification of toes and sternum. From these fragments it was assumed that the species was nothing but a hatchling.

According to Darren Nash, the Pterosaurs were highly precocial. As a result, the fusion of bones and ossification occurred at every early stage. Thus the conclusion goes thus that the Nemicolopterus might be a hatchling of the Sinopterus genus.

It is assumed that the name Nemicolopteus has been derived from the Greek word forest dwellers that have wings. In Greek 'Nemos' means 'forest', 'ikolos' means 'the dweller' and the 'pteros' means nothing but 'wings'. And finally 'crypticus' means 'hidden'. Thus if we may analyze the total segments we find the group of words ' The flying forest dweller that is hidden'.

We came to know of the N.Crypticus from a fossil. Beijing Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoantropology kept it in their custody. The fossil of Jiufotang Formation belonged to the Aptian age. The fossil was discovered in the Yaolugou Town of the Jianchang County of the Liaoning province of China .

We came to know that Nemicolopterus was a Pterosaur that had no tooth. According to Wang, the bird was a intermediate between the Pterosaurs that had tooth of the genus Ornithocheiroidaea and the toothless genus of he Dsungaripteroidea. Nemicolopterus was a very small bird. But according to scientists, the small birds evolved into the flying big birds like Quetzalcoatlus.

Nemicolopterus used to clutch the tree branches with the tiny claws. They roamed freely from one branch to one branch. But contradictions loom large when most of the pterosaurs are retrieved from the sea bed. It highlights that the little birds not only roamed on the tree tops they were accustomed to catch fish in the sea beach. They used to sit on the rocks or cliffs near the sea water so that the fish could be grabbed quite easily. But when the question of the Nemicolopterus comes to the forefront, it is revealed that it was such a small bird that lived on insects. They used to spend time roosting on the trees in leisure time.

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