An artist鈥檚 rendition of the Oculudentavis khaungraae after its preserved skull was found in a globule of amber in Myanmar, offering researchers a startlingly clear view of its features. China University of Geosciences/AFP / Zhixin Han
PARIS鈥擳inier than the teeniest bird, older than T-Rex and perfectly preserved for eternity: scientists have identified a 100-million-year-old flying dinosaur encased in amber that may be the smallest yet discovered.
The skull of Oculudentavis khaungraae was found in a globule of amber in Myanmar, offering researchers a startlingly clear view of its features.
鈥淲hen I first saw it, I was blown away,鈥� said Jingmai O鈥機onnor, a paleontologist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and lead author of the study published in Nature on Wednesday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty exquisitely preserved and really weird looking, with its unique scleral ring (eye bones) and large number of teeth,鈥� she told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The preserved skull is just 7.1 millimeters (less than one-third of an inch) long, likely making it the smallest dinosaur yet discovered. It would have been smaller than the smallest bird alive today, the bee hummingbird.
The preserved skull of the Oculudentavis khaungraaem is just 7.1 millimeters long, likely making it the smallest dinosaur yet discovered. China University of Geosciences/AFP / XING Lida
鈥楾eenie Weenie鈥�
The team even refer among themselves to the specimen as 鈥淭eenie Weenie,鈥� O鈥機onnor said.
Despite its miniscule size, researchers believe it hunted insects, using its sharp teeth and large eyes to home in on prey.
Unlike fossils encased in rock, amber specimens still retain their soft tissue, showing scientists their original color and morphology.
As to whether Teenie is a bird or a dinosaur, O鈥機onnor said the lines were blurry.
鈥淲e think it鈥檚 a bird鈥攖he skull has a shape that only occurs in birds and some dinosaurs,鈥� she said. 鈥淗owever, there are no skull characteristics that define birds; therefore, it could be a dinosaur or even something else.鈥�
Writing in a linked editorial, Roger Benson from Oxford University鈥檚 Department of Earth Sciences said the discovery suggested that birds might have evolved miniature body sizes much earlier than thought.
鈥淭his indicates that, only shortly after their origins late in the Jurassic period (which lasted from about 201 million to 145 million years ago), birds had already attained their minimum body sizes,鈥� he said.
And although it鈥檚 encased in amber, there鈥檚 no risk of scientists bringing it back to life, like a certain Steven Spielberg film.
鈥淭here are most certainly fragments of DNA preserved inside, but we鈥檒l never reach 鈥楯urassic Park,鈥欌�� O鈥機onnor said.