18 dic 2011
For many reasons Epidexipteryx is a remarkable little dinosaur. A single, well preserved, pigeon-sized skeleton was found in China's fossil-rich Daohugou area and revealed to the world in 2008. Epidexipteryx had four long ribbon-like display feathers on its tail, almost certainly used to attract a mate or threaten an enemy. Being covered in short, simple body feathers to keep warm Epidexipteryx lacked the flight feathers seen in other bird-like dinosaurs. This strongly suggests that feathers were used for ornamentation long before flight. Epidexipteryx lived between 152 and 168 million years ago, in the mid to late Jurassic Period. Many of its other features suggest a life in the trees hunting insects, safely away from hungry predators on the ground.
