Pinakamaliit na dinosaur na 99 million years ang tanda, nadiskubre!

Nadiskubre ng mga scientist ang pinaniniwalaang ‘smallest-ever dinosaur’ na na-trapped diumano sa loob ng bato na amber.

Ayon sa isa sa miyembro ng kanilang team, ito ang ‘weirdest fossil’ na kanyang tinrabaho.

Ang nasabing dinosaur na kasinglaki ng ibong hummingbird ay nabuhay ng mahigit 99 million years, at una itong nadiskubre sa northern Myanmar noong nakaraang taon.

Pinangalanan ng ka­nilang team na binubuo ng pitong tao ang kanilang discovery ng ‘Oculudentavis khaungraae.’

“Skeletal inclusions in approximately 99-million-year-old amber from northern Myanmar provide unprecedented insights into the soft tissue and skeletal anatomy of minute fauna, which are not typically preserved in other depositional environments.

“Among a diversity of vertebrates, seven specimens that preserve the skeletal remains of enantiornithine birds have previously been described, all of which (including at least one seemingly mature specimen) are smaller than specimens recovered from lithic materials.”

Ang unique raw na dinosaur na ito ay may mala­king bilang ng ngipin, mas marami kesa sa present-day hummingbird.

Kung malaki ang pagkakahawig nito sa ibon, meron naman itong mata na parang sa reptile. Ang tipikal kasi na ibon ay may bilog sa mata, pero ang Oculudentavis ay hugis kutsara.

Samantala, ayon kay Professor Jingmai O’Connor mula sa Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, ipinaliwanag niya ang problema ng creature na ito dahil sa kanyang size.

“Animals that become very small have to deal with specific problems, like how to fit all sensory organs into a very small head, or how to maintain body heat.

It’s the weirdest fossil I’ve ever been lucky enough to study.  I just love how natural selection ends up producing such bizarre forms. We are also super lucky this fossil survived to be discovered 99 million years later.”