"The smallest dinosaur to date" has sparked questions from peers, "First look at progress in discussion"
China News Service, Beijing, March 13th (Reporter Sun Zifa) Chinese and foreign scientists collaborated to discover the research results of the smallest dinosaur to date. After the publication of a cover article in the international authoritative scientific and technological journal "Nature" on the 12th, academic controversy was triggered. Published "The smallest dinosaur in history, perhaps the largest oolong in history," questioning the article raised ten major points of doubt, arguing that the evidence for the "smallest dinosaur" was insufficient, most likely it was a lizard.
The first author of the paper published in Nature and Associate Professor Xing Lida of China University of Geosciences responded to questions and said that eye-tooth birds are birds, dragons, and lizards, and everyone is welcome to raise questions and discuss together to promote the understanding of paleontology. "We look forward to progress in the discussion."
Wang Wei, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Li Zhiheng, Wang Min, Yi Hongyu, Lu Jing, and Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences A questioning article was published stating that the "Nature" paper concluded that the skull specimens in Burmese amber belong to birds or generalized dinosaurs. It is not hard, and even some important anatomical features support the skull belongs to some kind of lizard.
They raised 10 major doubts from the evolutionary relationship of reptiles, the convergent evolution of the overall shape, and the anatomical characteristics of specimens, including "Can the shape of the head prove that it is a bird?" "Unreasonable phylogenetic analysis" "No anterior orbital foramen" Birds? "" Birds with lateral teeth? "" Mysterious square yoke bones "" Sclera bones only found in lizards "" Birds with the most teeth in history? "" Body size "" No feathers? "" " Strange wording and logical chains. "
Among them, "birds without anterior orbital holes?" Suspectedly, birds and dinosaurs have a very stable and distinguishing feature on their skulls, that is, anterior orbital holes. In contrast, all lizards have no anterior orbital holes. . Judging from the fact that the specimen does not have an anterior orbital hole, it is unlikely to be a dinosaur or a bird, but rather a lizard.
"Birds with lateral teeth?" Suspect points out that all teeth of all dinosaurs / birds are "grooved teeth" that grow in the alveolar jaws, and in this fossil, the teeth of the maxilla are obviously It is a lateral tooth, which is common in lizards but unprecedented in dinosaurs and birds.
"The sclera bone only found in lizards" suspects that dinosaurs and birds also have scleral rings, but the shape of each sclera bone is very simple. In this amber skull, each sclera bone is narrowed in the middle and spoon-shaped overall-this shape is quite discriminatory, only found in lizards and never in dinosaurs and birds.
"No feathers?" Suspect said that all reported Burmese ambers containing birds or dinosaurs have preserved feathers to varying degrees, but the content of the amber in the research paper is very well preserved, but no feathers are found. Traces, which undoubtedly lack conclusive evidence that this specimen is a bird.
"The discovery of fossils is one of the charms of paleontology. Because of this, when new fossil materials bring strange new forms, it is necessary to 'say one point of evidence and one word', carefully compare and identify, and consider it as comprehensively as possible. Possibility of various interpretations and corresponding meanings. "The questioning article stated that it is hoped that the authors of the research paper will respond to the questioning as soon as possible and open the CT scan raw data quickly, so that other scientists can also perform the existing results based on the raw data. Repeatability verification.
Xing Lida responded that academic issues have their own norms and procedures, and it is recommended that scholars who are interested in participating in discussions follow the academic process. Due to preservation factors, most fossil specimens have their own limitations, and there are mature channels for the provision of raw data.
Some academic experts have pointed out that scientific research results in controversy and questioning. For scientific development, it can be said to be beneficial and harmless. It can not only approach and discover the nature of things in constant questioning, but also cause widespread concern in society. Promote scientific progress. (Finish)