Bird-Sized Dinosaur Footprints Were Discovered In South Korea, Suggesting The Species Flapped Its Feathered Arms To Run Faster
In South Korea, a team of scientists uncovered fossil footprints of a bird-sized dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period. The discovery could add to scientific knowledge about the origin of flight.
The researchers were baffled by the fossil footprints, which indicated that the small dinosaur somehow took big, long strides.
“These tracks were a puzzle because their footprints are so tiny, but they’re so far apart,” said Thomas Holtz, a paleontologist.
Sometimes, dinosaurs left behind footprints as they traversed across muddy areas. In some cases, the prints became fossilized and were preserved, allowing modern researchers to find them.
They are known as trackways, which have helped scientists learn more about how ancient creatures walked and ran.
In a new study, the research team analyzed a trackway found at a dig site in the Jinju Formation, located in the southeastern part of South Korea.
The tracks were of particular interest because there was a large distance between the prints that ranged from approximately nine to 11 inches.
They were made roughly 106 million years ago by a dinosaur named Dromaeosauriformipes rarus. It was a two-toed, feathered raptor that was about the size of a modern sparrow.
After measuring the distance between the tracks and evaluating the size of the dinosaur’s leg muscles, the researchers found that the tiny dinosaur could not have run fast enough to leave prints so far apart without assistance from wings.
Atakorn – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
D. rarus likely flapped its feathered arms, allowing it to travel faster. The movement is called “flap running,” and it provides the creature with enough force to lift off the ground in short bursts.
The force from the movement would have aided the dinosaur in running up a tree, but it was probably incapable of actual flight.
“We can now move past the debate about whether pre-avian dinosaurs used their arms to help them move before flight evolved and start to uncover missing details such as which species had these abilities and when and to what extent they were developed,” said Michael Pittman, a co-author of the study.
The researchers estimate that the dinosaur was running at around 23 miles per hour when it made the tracks. In order to achieve the long strides, it would’ve had to cover approximately 34 feet per second, which is more than the speed of any running animal alive today, including the ostrich and cheetah.
The tracks end suddenly, so it is impossible to tell if D. rarus was taking off or landing. Overall, the latest findings support the theory that the emergence of flight was not linear. D. rarus could represent a precursor to non-avian dinosaur flight.
This research could also inspire further studies of similar dinosaur trackways in other parts of the world, such as Australia, Bolivia, or Madagascar.
The details of the recent discovery were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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