News
















Monkeydactyl sets a Guinness World Record
3/2022
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Kunpengopterus antipollicatus (nicknamed Monkeydactyl) is recognised as the 'First animal with opposable thumbs' by Guinness World Records. The record will be included in the 2023 edition of the Guinness World Records book. Monkeydactyl is a new species of darwinopteran pterosaur reported by our team in 2021.
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Zhou, Pêgas, Ma, Han et al. 2021. Current Biology
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Webpage on Guinness World Records
Oviraptorosaur skull muscles and bite forces
2/2022
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The feeding mechanics of oviraptorosaurs has never been studied using sophisticated muscle modelling. We restored the skulls digitally, reconstructed the adductor muscles, and calculated the bite forces of Incisivosaurus, Citipati, Khaan, and Conchoraptor. We revealed that oviraptorids had restrictive gapes and high bite forces compared to other herbivorous theropods.
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Meade & Ma 2022. Scientific Reports
Profile: Hong Kong-born dinosaur expert
12/2021
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Interview in 東方日報, 香港01, 體藝文情, HKU Science
Exquisitely preserved theropod dinosaur embryo
21/12/2021
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'Baby Yingliang' (英良貝貝) is one of the best-preserved dinosaur embryo fossils ever reported. This oviraptorosaur, from the Late Cretaceous of southern China, has a bird-like embryonic posture, which possibly suggests a pre-hatching behaviour similar to that of living birds.
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Xing, Niu, Ma et al. 2022. iScience
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Press in BBC News, National Geographic, CNN, Australia ABC, CBC, ABC7, CBS, ITV, The Guardian, New Scientist, Daily Mail, NBC, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reuters, NPR, Smithsonian Mag, Live Science, Global News, LA Times, Forskning & Framsteg, Radio New Zealand, Globo, Global Times, South China Morning Post, The Standard, 中央電視台, TVBS新聞, 中央社, 有線電視, 無線電視, 文匯報
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Live interview in BBC News, Sky News, CNN, Australia ABC, LBC, Times Radio, Prisa W Radio
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Article in The Conversation (republished in The Independent, Scroll.in)
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Retweeted by Jurassic World
Monkeydactyl selected as one of the surprising records science set in 2021
20/12/2021
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Our discovery of Kunpengopterus antipollicatus (nicknamed Monkeydactyl) was selected by Science News as one of the 6 surprising records science set in 2021. It is the earliest known animal with opposable thumbs.
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Article in Science News
Macroevolution of theropod dinosaur feeding mechanics
16/12/2021
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Theropod dinosaurs underwent extreme dietary changes during the Mesozoic, from ancestral carnivory to specialised carnivory, herbivory, and omnivory. We used finite element analysis (FEA) to study the biomechanics of >40 theropod jaws, and revealed how carnivores and herbivores differ in feeding mechanics, as well as a general trend of jaw strengthening along all lineages.
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Ma et al. 2022. Current Biology
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Press in Daily Mail, New Scientist, Syfy Wire, wissenschaft.de, Notimérica, 科學網
Titanosauriform sauropod lower jaw from Ruyang Basin
27/10/2021
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Partial dentary of a titanosauriform sauropod is reported from Ruyang Basin of Henan, China. It has a relatively low tooth replacement rate compared to other titanosauriform sauropods. The fossil and 3D printed model are now displayed in the Dinosaur Hall of Henan Natural History Museum.
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Chang et al. 2021. PeerJ
New darwinopteran pterosaur with the oldest opposed thumb
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Kunpengopterus antipollicatus (對握鯤鵬翼龍), nicknamed "Monkeydactyl (擒拿翼龍)", has an opposed thumb on both hands, the first of such feature in pterosaurs. It also represents the oldest opposed thumb in the fossil record.
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Zhou, Pêgas, Ma, Han et al. 2021. Current Biology
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Press in The Times, Daily Mail, BBC News, The Sun, The Independent, The Evening Standard, CBS News, USA Today, Science News, ABC Australia, CNET, Insider, Cosmos, IFLScience, Gizmodo, Smithsonian Mag, Salon, Vice, Syfy Wire, Fox 46, Scientific American, National Geographic en Español, New Scientist NL, 科學網, ETtoday新聞雲
New long-tailed anurognathid pterosaur from the Jurassic
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Sinomacrops bondei (邦氏中華大眼翼龍) is a tiny pterosaur discovered in the Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of Hebei, China, the second anurognathid from this formation.
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Wei et al. 2021. PeerJ
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Press in IFLScience, Syfy Wire, Daily Mail, Gizmodo, NYPost, Vice, Movieweb, Washington Examiner, 朝鮮日報
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Creature in ARK: Survival Evolved
Article on oviraptorosaurs in Palaeontology Online
2/2/2021
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Article in Palaeontology Online
Commentary for The Times on a new oviraptorosaur
31/10/2020
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Oksoko is a new two-fingered oviraptorid oviraptorosaur from the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.
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Commentary in The Times
Form and function of oviraptorosaur and scansoriopterygid skulls
21/8/2020
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The diets of oviraptorosaurian and scansoriopterygid dinosaurs are enigmatic. We conducted functional analysis and showed that these early-diverging pennaraptorans had a high dietary complexity.
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Ma et al. 2020. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
Fossil record of pennaraptoran dinosaurs
21/8/2020
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This paper summarises the known fossil record of Mesozoic and Paleocene pennaraptorans.
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Pittman et al. 2020. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
Systematics of pennaraptoran dinosaurs
21/8/2020
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Pennaraptora is a group of theropod dinosaurs including Oviraptorosauria, Scansoriopterygidae, Dromaeosauridae, Troodontidae, and Avialae.
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This paper presents the phylogenetic relationships within and between key clades, as well as their uncertainties and controversies.
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Pittman et al. 2020. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
Oviraptorosaur skull evolution and niche partitioning
17/10/2019
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Oviraptorosaurs are known to have diverse skull forms. We used landmark, statistical and functional analyses to explore their skull form and function, with a particular focus on the niche partitioning among Ganzhou Oviraptorid Fauna.
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Ma et al. 2020. Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Description of Gigantoraptor's lower jaw
24/11/2017
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Gigantoraptor is an 8-meter-long oviraptorosaur from Iren Dabasu Formation, Inner Mongolia, China. We provide an in-depth description of the mandible and discuss its implications on the evolution of oviraptorosaurian jaws.
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Ma et al. 2017. Scientific Reports
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Press in Sciworthy