New Dino-Bird: Epidexipteryx

Every week, it seems, Chinese paleontologists are unearthing new dino-birds (small, feathered reptiles intermediate between dinosaurs and birds). The latest example is Epidexipteryx, a tiny specimen that stands out for its four extra-long tail feathers (and accompanying lack of any feathers on its arms, meaning it was incapable of even short bursts of flight).

Epidexipteryx (try saying that name ten times fast; it's Greek for "display feather") was discovered not in the famous Liaoning quarry, but at an excavation in Inner Mongolia, the sediments of which date from the late Jurassic period (about 168 to 152 million years ago). That would make this six-ounce dinosaur even older than its more famous cousin Archaeopteryx, long considered to be the first true dino-bird.