Working with samples that have beenpreserved in amberfor millions of twelvemonth can make procure a confident identification quite the challenge . It ’s easy to miss tell - tale species indicators among the quirks of the saving process . This was certainly the case for one critter described in a recent field of study which had been – until recently – thought to be a hummingbird - like dinosaur . The inquiry , published in the journalCurrent Biology , name a new species of the genusOculudentaviswhich is now believe to contain ancient lizards .
NamedOculudentavis naga , the new specie pay testimonial to the Naga people of Myanmar ( where the specimen was find ) and India . The Kinder Surprise prize of a specimen is made up of a partial skeleton , include the integral skull staring with visible scales and soft tissue . It hails from the same genus as another specimen find in the same area , Oculudentavis khaungraae , which alongsideO. nagais thought to be around 99 million years old .
Last year , a freestanding composition of research annunciate a raw genus and species of the “ former bird”O. khaungraaebased on its fossilized skull . Shortly after its publication , the subject area was challenge by experts who thought its features well reflected those of a lounge lizard , and the research was after pull back .
While all of this was going on , the researchers on this latest study were interfering describingO. naga , the fossilized remains of which were easily preserve compared to that used in theO. khaungraaestudy . However , despite its optimal preservationO. nagawas still found to be such an strange specimen that it proved quite the mystifier to work out on the button what it was .
Arnau Bolet of Barcelona ’s Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont led the inquiry , using CT scans of bothOculudentavisspecies to equate their physical characteristics and earmark those which leaned towards the belittled animate being being lizards .
" The specimen puzzled all of us at first because if it was a lounge lizard , it was a highly strange one , " articulate Bolet in astatement .
The signs that sway the research worker ’ minds towardsO. nagabeing a lizard included the presence of scales , dentition that were fuse to its jawbone ( not nestle into socket like those of a dinosaur ) , and lizard - like eyes and articulatio humeri ivory . The soft tissue remains ofO. nagaalso seemed to indicate the presence of a crest on top of the snout and a flap of loose skin , which could potentially have been used for display like the fancy dewlaps of anoles . There was also a hockey marijuana cigarette - shaped skull bone inO. nagawhich is shared among a chemical group of reptiles know as the squamates , leading the research worker to conceive that this could well be whereO. nagasits .
" It ’s a really unearthly animal . It ’s unlike any other lizard we have today . We think it represents a group of squamates we were not aware of , ” say herpetologist Juan Diego Daza in astatement . " We estimate that many lizard originated during this time , but they still had n’t germinate their innovative appearance . That ’s why they can trick us . They may have characteristic of this chemical group or that one , but in reality , they do n’t match perfectly . "
