China News Service, Beijing, July 23 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The "smallest dinosaur" that has been widely concerned and questioned by the academic community has triggered the "biggest oolong" controversial paper-the internationally renowned academic journal "Nature" (Nature) published amber in mid-March The cover article of the smallest dinosaur so far was found in, and the manuscript was officially retracted on the night of the 22nd Beijing time.

　　Springer Nature provided the media with the retraction instructions of the corresponding author of the paper, Jingmai O'Connor, saying, “We, as the authors, withdraw this paper now to avoid inaccurate (taxonomic) information remaining in the literature. In. Although the description of Oculudentavis khaungraae is still accurate, a new unpublished specimen brings us to the hypothesis about the location of the evolutionary tree of HPG-15-3 (published paper fossil specimen) Questions".

　　Xing Lida, the first author of the paper, responded via Weibo. After the corresponding author of the paper negotiated with Nature on behalf of all authors, “We have decided to withdraw this paper from Nature. Science is a process of repeated verification and constant approach to the truth. We are grateful for this process. Scholars and friends who have put forward various opinions on us".

　　"The last time it took Nature to withdraw the cover paper for 8 years, this time it only took 5 months." Science Net published "How Can Academic Papers Be Withdrawn!" Chinese scholars first retracted Nature's cover article to attract attention," he believes that manuscript retraction is not a trivial matter and should be treated as rigorously as paper publication.

　　Some paleontologists pointed out that it is rare to withdraw manuscripts in paleontological research, and bluntly said that this manuscript is “a shame to the field of vertebrate paleontology”.

　　It is understood that the cover article of Nature on March 12, 2020 stated that Chinese and foreign scientists have discovered the smallest dinosaur to date in a piece of amber with a history of about 99 million years in northern Myanmar, which is about the same size as the smallest bird hummingbird in existence. And named it Kuanya Eye-toothed Bird.

　　After the publication of this paper, it attracted a lot of attention from the academic circles and immediately caused widespread controversy. A number of academic colleagues jointly published a questioning article on "The Smallest Dinosaur in History, Perhaps the Largest Oolong in Amber" the next day, raising ten major doubts in terms of the evolutionary relationship of reptiles, the convergent evolution of overall appearance, and the anatomical characteristics of specimens. It is believed that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the "smallest dinosaur" is probably a lizard.

　　Subsequently, some international colleagues also pointed out the flaws in the analysis of the "Kuanya Eye-tooth Bird" specimen. Disputes and doubts about the "smallest dinosaur" have also continued. (Finish)