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spinosaurus1 — yi qi
Published: 2015-04-30 22:46:00 +0000 UTC; Views: 6869; Favourites: 202; Downloads: 40
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Description
just when i thought possible binomial names couldn't get shorter, also just when i thought theropods couldn't get any stranger. yi qi was a small Chinese Scansoriopterygid the size of a magpie. it has elongated fingers and a strange bony structure extended from the wrist that supported a membranous wing. this is possibly the closest evolution has ever gotten to creating an actual dragon excluding certain pterosaurs.Related content
Comments: 38
is this a real dinosaur because if it is I am using it as the shared ancestor of Dragons and Wyverns
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yep, this indeed a real dinosaur.
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Then the shared ancestor of dragons and wyverns is what it is. Although I was hoping to design a pterosaur ancestor for wyverns to further stress how I believe they are a separate species to dragons. Oh well it seems legitimate evolution insists otherwise.
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It's going to be so interesting to see how our understanding of this species develops!
Admittedly, my only experience with this critter is from the photos of the specimen (the best of which can be found here: lawnchairanthropology.files.wo… ) - but it seems pretty inconclusive about what (if any) patagia it supported.
The notion of patagia is certainly plausible - and dragon-winged dinosaurs is awesome - but I can't help but wonder if it's correct. The sheet-like skin in the specimen is not directly associated with the styliform spurs, and the notion of patagia seems largely based around the statement (by Xu et al) that: “we are aware of no case in which a long, unjointed bony or cartilaginous rod extending from a limb joint has evolved in any vertebrate without being associated with an aerodynamic membrane, and plausible alternative functions for such a structure are difficult to conceive." However, one need only look to the "leg horns" on certain breeds of rooster for similar (albeit smaller) structures - and other birds like lapwings even have them on their wrists.
Personally, I wonder if the styliform structures might have been display structures, such as the fan of a peacock or a frigate bird's throat - possibly evolved from earlier fighting spurs. Of course, this is as much speculation as any of the other options put forth, if not moreso.
Of course, patagia aren't wholly out of the question. There are some modern birds like nightjars that have patagia. They're obviously not as extensive as suggested for Yi qi, but they certainly open the floor to the possibility.
All in all, I love finds like this! They serve as excellent reminders about how little we know about the things we think we know. ^_^
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thanks alot. i've actually been trying to follow up on this critter also. there are many speculative positions of the styliform. if it did pointed inward, the patagia coverage would be far less extensive and i would see absolute plausibility with every speculative adaption you suggested. patagia could be present in all maniraptorans, and our modern avian theropods are no exception. the expansion would be quite larger comparatively to yi qi, but not to a degree that would impede the development of anchoring feathers that could serve a display function. you sir, gave me a nice idea for my next drawing
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Awesome! It's always great when we can inspire each others' art. After all, that's why this community exists.
Please drop me a message when the next one's complete! I'd love to see it!
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Wow. This is awesome, I never knew there was a theropod that possibly had "bat" wings... I wish these guys would have survived and evolved into big-ass literal dragons. 8D
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I wonder I any other Scansoriopterygids possessed the bat wings, and whether it would be to a similar extent? Really cool picture!
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it is indeed an interesting thought. it would be about as revolutionary of a discovery as the horse headed, sail backed deinochierus
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Awesome work as usual. I see you've given him lips
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Was it able to bend that projection? was it able to fold the wings?
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that is not known. it's still very controversial on it's placement. mine has it pointed outward, resulting in a much larger wing area. others have placed it pointed inward. resulting in a much smaller and narrower wing area.
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some of modern avian dinosaurs do use a form of echolocation such as the oilbird and the cave swiftlet. wouldn't surprise me if a prehistoric non- avian theropod also adapted such abilities.
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Okay, this is weird, weird, weird! Just when you think dinosaurs couldn't get any weirder, a new one comes along and boggles your mind! I'd love to see toys and figures made of the more 'out there' dinosaurs instead of another ditto Megalosauroid - not that I have anything against them of course.
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if a decent figure of this creature comes out, i'm buying it on the spot. in all honest, i wouldn't mind a good spinosaurus figure release. thus far, the once brought to he public are either not that good or could of been done better imo. but this guy right now is top priority.
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Yup. The CollectA Spino looks decent, but last time I looked it hadn't been released in the UK yet. If you want, I can get one when it is and report back to you.
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that would certainly be a great help. feel free to notify me when you get it.
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Looks beautiful. Something to note though, the 4th finger is actually a strange bone jutting out of the fore arm. It's really really weird.
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i know. i stated that in the description. i just thought it would look interesting if it had the same enlarged overlapping scales on it as well as the fingers. thanks for the compliment.
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Great reconstruction! I like how you made the trailing edge of the membrane relatively uniform rather than indented.
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thanks. i thought it could of used the extra surface are. being that it was claimed to be slightly back heavy.
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I see more a resemblance to the cockatrice myself. Maybe a bunch of petrified time travelers and other unfortunate victims/rocks will be found in the vicinity.
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indeed. the diversity of theropods back then were mind boggling. who knew they would of taken such drastic steps in evolution to attain flight
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I'm unsure what to say right now, it's such a weird creature.
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i don't blame you. this is indeed a remarkably strange discovery.
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