Ambopteryx

Name: Ambopteryx ‭(‬both wing‭)‬.
Phonetic: Am-bop-the-riks.
Named By: Min Wang,‭ ‬Jingmai K.‭ ‬O’Connor,‭ ‬Xing Xu‭ & ‬Zhonghe Zhou‭ ‬-‭ ‬2019.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Scansoriopterygidae.
Species: A.‭ ‬longibrachium‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Omnivore‭?
Size: Body estimated to be about‭ ‬32‭ ‬centimetres long.‭ ‬Possibly longer in older adults,‭ ‬though probably not by much if at all.
Known locations: China,‭ ‬Liaoning‭ ‬-‭ ‬Haifanggou Formation.
Time period: Oxfordian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Almost complete individuals with soft tissue impressions.‭ ‬Individual is possibly a subadult.




       Ambopteryx is a genus of scansoriopterygid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the late Jurassic.‭ ‬The name Ambopteryx means‭ '‬both wing‭’ ‬and this is a reference to the observations that fossil impressions with the holotype skeleton show that Ambopteryx‭ ‬was feathered,‭ ‬but then had bat-like membranous wings which were not feathered as well.‭ ‬This is the second time that such a‭ '‬wing‭’ ‬structure has been seen in such dinosaurs,‭ ‬the genus Yi has also been reconstructed with bat-like membranes on the arms.‭
       Ambopteryx was a very small dinosaur,‭ ‬the holotype individual measuring thirty-two centimetres from snout to tip pygostyle,‭ ‬though long tail feathers also grew from the tail,‭ ‬giving the impression that Ambopteryx was longer than it actually was.‭ ‬Ambopteryx also preserves evidence of gastroliths and small bones within what would have been the stomach/gut area of‭ ‬the living animal.‭ ‬These show that Ambopteryx may have been omnivorous,‭ ‬an important discovery as before this scansoriopterygid dinosaurs were thought to be more exclusively omnivorous.

Further reading
-‭ ‬A new Jurassic scansoriopterygid and the loss of membranous wings in theropod dinosaurs.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Nature.‭ ‬569‭ (‬7755‭)‬:‭ ‬256‭–‬259.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Min Wang,‭ ‬Jingmai K.‭ ‬O’Connor,‭ ‬Xing Xu‭ & ‬Zhonghe Zhou‭ ‬-‭ ‬2019.



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