**Yi: The Strange Winged Dinosaur**
Yi is a unique dinosaur that lived around 159 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period. Its name means “wing” and “strange” in Mandarin, which fits perfectly because of its unusual features.
**Discovery of Yi**
Yi was discovered by a farmer named Wang Jianrong in a quarry in Hebei, China. He found a fossil of an adult Yi and sold it to a museum in 2007. Scientists were able to study the fossil carefully, ensuring it was real and well-preserved.
A team of scientists led by Xu Xing studied Yi and published their findings in a scientific journal. They named the dinosaur Yi qi, where “Yi” stands for “wing” and “qi” means “strange”. Yi’s name is notable because it is one of the shortest names among dinosaurs.
**What Did Yi Look Like?**
Yi was small, about the weight of a young cat, approximately 380 grams, and had a unique appearance.
It had:
– A short, blunt snout.
– Simple feathers covering its body, more like brushes than the typical feathers seen in birds.
– A long third finger, which helped support a skin membrane that likely functioned like wings.
Yi’s unusual structures, such as the long, pointed wrist bone, made it stand out among dinosaurs. This wrist bone may have helped it glide from tree to tree.
**How Did Yi Live?**
It’s believed that Yi was an arboreal creature, meaning it lived in trees. Its feathered body and wing-like structures suggest it was adapted for gliding rather than flapping flight like modern birds.
Scientists think Yi might have had a gliding style similar to bats. It likely wasn’t great at flying like birds do today, but it could glide through forested areas.
**The Environment**
Yi lived in a lush, tropical forest environment filled with various plants like ginkgo trees and ferns. This ecosystem included other unique creatures, such as early birds and flying reptiles.
The fossils found together with Yi suggest that it lived in a vibrant ecosystem surrounded by large lakes and active volcanoes.
**Conclusion**
Yi is an important dinosaur for understanding the evolution of flight. Its blend of feathered features and wing-like structures opens a window into how dinosaurs may have tried to achieve flight in unique ways, showing the creativity of nature’s designs.