Microraptor Zhaoianus

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Crazy Creatures Microraptor zhaoianus Microraptor was a small winged dinosaur Time: 120 Million from China that lived in the early Years ago Cretaceous period – 120 million years ago. Microraptor was about 70cm long and Period: Cretaceous weighed less than a kilogram – that's about the same size as a small cat! Four- Microraptor had very unusual wings, unlike all birds today. winged bird Your task 1: Draw Microrapto! It had: Wings on each arm and leg A thin mouth filled with tiny sharp teeth A very long feathery tail Long, sharp claws on the feet Your task 2: Fossils of Microraptor are sometimes preserved with patterns and colours. Think about birds alive today – colour in the feather with the colours you think Microraptor might have had! Creature Fact! Your task 3: Microraptor could fly for short bursts and glides, and could climb well using its long claws. What kind of Microraptor was a environment did Microraptor live in? Dinosaur, but is called a “Paravian” dinosaur because it is so close to birds! Your task 4: Microraptor had 4 wings. All birds alive today only have two wings. Why do you think Microraptor had 4 wings? What could it have used the other wings for? Your task 5: Microraptor is one of the most famous fossils from a very important fossil bed in China. Find out where, and name another two fossils found there! Your task 6: Microraptor was a paravian dinosaur. That means “nearly a bird, but not quite”! Can you name four differences between Microraptor and birds alive today?You might need to do a bit of research for this! 1. 2. 3. 4. Research key words: Paravian Jiufotang Formation Velociraptor CRAZYOMETER! How weird do you think this creature was? Boring! Yeah Ok A bit weird Really weird! Woah! By Fred Wierum - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63257510 By Hiroshi Nishimoto - Microraptor gui, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37463789.

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A New Understanding of the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in Western Liaoning
Open Journal of Geology, 2019, 9, 658-660 https://www.scirp.org/journal/ojg ISSN Online: 2161-7589 ISSN Print: 2161-7570 A New Understanding of the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in Western Liaoning Zijie Wu1,2, Longwei Qiu1, Haipeng Wang2 1School of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, China 2Liaoning Provincial Institute of Geological Exploration Co., Ltd., Dalian, China How to cite this paper: Wu, Z.J., Qiu, Abstract L.W. and Wang, H.P. (2019) A New Un- derstanding of the Lower Cretaceous Jiufo- The Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in western Liaoning is the most tang Formation in Western Liaoning. Open important fossil production horizon of the Jehol Biota, which is widely dis- Journal of Geology, 9, 658-660. tributed in the Mesozoic basins of western Liaoning. Due to the influence of https://doi.org/10.4236/ojg.2019.910067 historical data, previous scholars believed that there was no volcanic activity Received: August 16, 2019 in the Jiufotang Formation in western Liaoning. In a field investigation in Accepted: September 21, 2019 western Liaoning, the authors discovered basalt and andesite in the Hu- Published: September 24, 2019 jiayingzi bed. In addition, a conformable boundary was found between the Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Yixian and the Jiufotang formations. It indicates that both the Jiufotang For- Scientific Research Publishing Inc. mation and the Yixian Formation are strata containing volcanic-sedimentary This work is licensed under the Creative rocks, only differing in strength of volcanic activity. Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). Keywords http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access Western Liaoning, Lower Cretaceous, Jiufotang Formation, Volcanic Rocks, New Discoveries 1.
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