Archaeoraptor

Common card · No. 476775

"Archaeoraptor" is the informal generic name for a fossil chimera from China in an article published in National Geographic magazine in 1999. The magazine claimed that the fossil was a "missing link" between birds and terrestrial theropod dinosaurs. Even before this publication, there had been severe doubts about the fossil's authenticity. Further scientific study showed it to be a forgery constructed from rearranged pieces of real fossils from different species. The tail is part of the holotype of Microraptor zhaoianus, a small winged dromaeosaur named in 2000. Zhou et al. (2002) found that the head and upper body belong to a specimen of the primitive fossil bird Yanornis. The legs and feet belong to an as yet unknown animal. The scandal brought attention to illegal fossil deals conducted in China. Although "Archaeoraptor" was a forgery, many true examples of feathered dinosaurs have been found and demonstrate the evolutionary connection between birds and other theropods.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Jonathan Chen, CC BY-SA 4.0