Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: Did the sinosauropteryx fly?
Sinosauropteryx (meaning "Chinese reptilian wing", ) is a compsognathid dinosaur. Described in 1996, it was the first dinosaur taxon outside of Avialae (birds and their immediate relatives) to be found with evidence of feathers. It was covered with a coat of very simple filament-like feathers. Structures that indicate colouration have also been preserved in some of its feathers, which makes "Sinosauropteryx" the first non-avialian dinosaurs where colouration has been determined. The colouration includes a reddish and light banded tail. Some contention has arisen with an alternative interpretation of the filamentous impression as remains of collagen fibres, but this has not been widely accepted.
Pteranodon (; from Greek πτερόν ( pteron, "wing") and ἀνόδων (anodon, "toothless") is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with wingspans over 8 meters (26 feet). They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present-day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota. More fossil specimens of "Pteranodon" have been found than any other pterosaur, with about 1,200 specimens known to science, many of them well preserved with nearly complete skulls and articulated skeletons. It was an important part of the animal community in the Western Interior Seaway.
Three specimens have been assigned to "Sinosauropteryx prima": the holotype GMV 2123 (and its counter slab [opposite face], NIGP 127586), NIGP 127587, and D 2141. Another specimen, IVPP V14202, was assigned to the genus but not to the only species by Zhang and colleagues. The assignment of an additional larger specimen to "S. prima", GMV 2124, was later found to be in error. All of the fossils were found in the Jianshangou or Dawangzhangzi Beds of the Yixian Formation in the Beipiao and Lingyuan regions of Liaoning, China. These fossil beds have been dated to 124.6–122 million years ago, during the early Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous.
The wing shape of "Pteranodon" suggests that it would have flown rather like a modern-day albatross. This is based on the fact that "Pteranodon" had a high aspect ratio (wingspan to chord length) similar to that of the albatross — 9:1 for "Pteranodon", compared to 8:1 for an albatross. Albatrosses spend long stretches of time at sea fishing, and use a flight pattern called "dynamic soaring" which exploits the vertical gradient of wind speed near the ocean surface to travel long distances without flapping, and without the aid of thermals (which do not occur over the open ocean the same way they do over land). While most of a "Pteranodon" flight would have depended on soaring, like long-winged seabirds, it probably required an occasional active, rapid burst of flapping, and studies of "Pteranodon" wing loading (the strength of the wings vs. the weight of the body) indicate that they were capable of substantial flapping flight, contrary to some earlier suggestions that they were so big they could only glide.
"Pteranodon" was the first pterosaur found outside of Europe. Its fossils first were found by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1870, in the Late Cretaceous Smoky Hill Chalk deposits of western Kansas. These chalk beds were deposited at the bottom of what was once the Western Interior Seaway, a large shallow sea over what now is the midsection of the North American continent. These first specimens, YPM 1160 and YPM 1161, consisted of partial wing bones, as well as a tooth from the prehistoric fish "Xiphactinus", which Marsh mistakenly believed to belong to this new pterosaur (all known pterosaurs up to that point had teeth). In 1871, Marsh named the find ""Pterodactylus oweni"", assigning it to the well-known (but much smaller) European genus "Pterodactylus". Marsh also collected more wing bones of the large pterosaur in 1871. Realizing that the name he had chosen had already been used for Harry Seeley's European pterosaur species "Pterodactylus oweni" in 1864, Marsh re-named his giant North American pterosaur Pterodactylus occidentalis, meaning "Western wing finger," in his 1872 description of the new specimen. He also named two additional species, based on size differences: Pterodactylus ingens (the largest specimen so far), and Pterodactylus velox (the smallest).
It is based on the type specimen or holotype BPV-078, an incomplete skeleton and skull. Its skull, including a large crest, was toothless and similar to that of "Pteranodon". The skull lacks the point of the snout but it was in life less than 200 millimeters long (7.9 inches), and the animal had a wingspan of about 1.1 meters (3.6 feet). A second specimen, D2526, described in 2006, had a larger wingspan. Despite its similarities to "Pteranodon", "Eopteranodon" was not placed into a family by its describers, who put it into the clade Pteranodontia as "incertae sedis" (uncertain position).
Now recognised as a member of the family Spinosauridae, "Baryonyx" affinities were obscure when it was discovered. Some researchers have suggested that "Suchosaurus cultridens" is a senior synonym (being an older name), and that "Suchomimus tenerensis" belongs in the same genus; subsequent authors have kept them separate. "Baryonyx" was the first theropod dinosaur demonstrated to have been piscivorous (fish-eating), as evidenced by fish scales in the stomach region of the holotype specimen. It may also have been an active predator of larger prey and a scavenger, since it also contained bones of a juvenile "Iguanodon". The creature would have caught and processed its prey primarily with its forelimbs and large claws. "Baryonyx" may have had semiaquatic habits, and coexisted with other theropod, ornithopod, and sauropod dinosaurs, as well as pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles and fishes, in a fluvial environment.
Discoveries in the 1990s shed more light on the relationships of "Baryonyx" and its relatives. In 1996, a snout from Morocco was referred to "Spinosaurus", and "Irritator" and "Angaturama" from Brazil (the two are possible synonyms) were named. "Cristatusaurus" and "Suchomimus" were named based on fossils from Niger in 1998. In their description of "Suchomimus", Sereno and colleagues placed it and "Baryonyx" in the new subfamily Baryonychinae within Spinosauridae; "Spinosaurus" and "Irritator" were placed in the subfamily Spinosaurinae. Baryonychinae was distinguished by the small size and larger number of teeth in the dentary behind the terminal rosette, the deeply keeled front dorsal vertebrae, and by having serrated teeth. Spinosaurinae was distinguished by their straight tooth crowns without serrations, small first tooth in the premaxilla, increased spacing of teeth in the jaws, and possibly by having their nostrils placed further back and the presence of a deep neural spine sail. They also united the spinosaurids and their closest relatives in the superfamily Spinosauroidea, but in 2010, the British palaeontologist Roger Benson considered this a junior synonym of Megalosauroidea (an older name). In a 2007 conference abstract, the American palaeontologist Denver W. Fowler suggested that since "Suchosaurus" is the first named genus in its group, the clade names Spinosauroidea, Spinosauridae, and Baryonychinae should be replaced by Suchosauroidea, Suchosauridae, and Suchosaurinae, regardless of whether or not the name "Baryonyx" is retained. A 2017 study by the Brazilian palaeontologists Marcos A. F. Sales and Cesar L. Schultz found that the clade Baryonychinae was not well supported, since serrated teeth may be an ancestral trait among spinosaurids.
In 1983, a relatively complete skeleton was excavated from the Smokejacks pit in Surrey, Engand. These remains were described by British paleontologists Alan J. Charig and Angela C. Milner in 1986 as the holotype of a new species, "Baryonyx walkeri." After the discovery of "Baryonyx," many new genera have since been described, the majority on very incomplete remains. However, other finds bear enough fossil material and distinct anatomical features to be assigned with confidence. Paul Sereno and colleagues described "Suchomimus" in 1998"," a baryonychine from Niger on the basis of a partial skeleton found in 1997. Later in 2004, partial jaw bones were recovered from the Alcântara Formation, these were referred to a new genus of spinosaurine named "Oxalaia" in 2011 by Alexander Kellner.
Platecarpus ("flat wrist") is an extinct genus of aquatic lizards belonging to the mosasaur family, living around 84–81 million years ago during the middle Santonian to early Campanian, of the Late Cretaceous period. Fossils have been found in the United States and a possible specimen in Belgium and Africa. A well-preserved specimen of "Platecarpus" shows that it fed on moderate-sized fish, and it has been hypothesized to have fed on squid, and ammonites as well. Like other mosasaurs, it was initially thought to have swum in an eel-like fashion, although another study suggests that it swam more like modern sharks. An exceptionally well-preserved specimen of "P. tympaniticus" known as LACM 128319 shows skin impressions, pigments around the nostrils, bronchial tubes, and the presence of a high-profile tail fluke, showing that it and other mosasaurs did not necessarily have an eel-like swimming method, but were more powerful, fast swimmers. It is held in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Several large (~3 meters) and advanced members of this group ("Ctenospondylus", "Sphenacodon", "Secodontosaurus" and "Dimetrodon") are distinguished by a tall sail along the back, made up of elongated vertebral neural spines, which in life must have been covered with skin and blood vessels, and presumably functioned as a thermoregulatory device. However, possession of a sail does not appear to have been essential for these animals. For example, there is the case in which one genus ("Sphenacodon" – fossils known from New Mexico) lacks a sail, while a very similar and closely related genus ("Dimetrodon" – fossils known from Texas) has one. During the Permian, these two regions were separated by a narrow sea-way, but it is not clear why one geographically isolated group should evolve a sail, but the other group not.
Dimetrodon ( or , meaning "two measures of teeth") is an extinct genus of synapsids that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian), around 295–272 million years ago (Ma). It is a member of the family Sphenacodontidae. The most prominent feature of "Dimetrodon" is the large neural spine sail on its back formed by elongated spines extending from the vertebrae. It walked on four legs and had a tall, curved skull with large teeth of different sizes set along the jaws. Most fossils have been found in the southwestern United States, the majority coming from a geological deposit called the Red Beds of Texas and Oklahoma. More recently, fossils have been found in Germany. Over a dozen species have been named since the genus was first described in 1878.
Wasps first appeared in the fossil record in the Jurassic, and diversified into many surviving superfamilies by the Cretaceous. They are a successful and diverse group of insects with tens of thousands of described species; wasps have spread to all parts of the world except for the polar regions. The largest social wasp is the Asian giant hornet, at up to in length; among the largest solitary wasps is a group of species known as tarantula hawks, along with the giant scoliid of Indonesia ("Megascolia procer"). The smallest wasps are solitary chalcid wasps in the family Mymaridae, including the world's smallest known insect, with a body length of only , and the smallest known flying insect, only long.
Yutyrannus (meaning "feathered tyrant") is a genus of tyrannosauroid dinosaurs which contains a single known species, Yutyrannus huali. This species lived during the early Cretaceous period in what is now northeastern China. Three fossils of "Yutyrannus huali"—all found in the rock beds of Liaoning Province—are currently the largest-known dinosaur specimens that preserve direct evidence of feathers.
This is a monotypic species. All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds, and tinamous are the closest living relative of these birds.
While the first "Pteranodon" wing bones were collected by Marsh and Cope in the early 1870s, the first "Pteranodon" skull was found on May 2, 1876, along the Smoky Hill River in Wallace County (now Logan County), Kansas, USA, by Samuel Wendell Williston, a fossil collector working for Marsh. A second, smaller skull soon was discovered as well. These skulls showed that the North American pterosaurs were different from any European species, in that they lacked teeth and had bony crests on their skulls. Marsh recognized this major difference, describing the specimens as "distinguished from all previously known genera of the order Pterosauria by the entire absence of teeth." Marsh recognized that this characteristic warranted a new genus, and he coined the name "Pteranodon" ("wing without tooth") in 1876. Marsh reclassified all the previously named North American species from "Pterodactylus" to "Pteranodon". He considered the smaller skull to belong to "Pteranodon occidentalis", based on its size. Marsh classified the larger skull, YPM 1117, in the new species "Pteranodon longiceps", which he thought to be a medium-sized species in between the small "P. occidentalis" and the large "P. ingens". Marsh also named several additional species: Pteranodon comptus and "Pteranodon nanus" were named for fragmentary skeletons of small individuals, while "Pteranodon gracilis" was based on a wing bone that he mistook for a pelvic bone. He soon realized his mistake, and re-classified that specimen again into a separate genus, which he named "Nyctosaurus". "P, nanus" was also later recognized as a "Nyctosaurus" specimen.
Tsintaosaurini is a tribe of basal lambeosaurine hadrosaurs native to Eurasia. It currently contains only "Tsintaosaurus" (from Shandong, east China) and "Pararhabdodon" (from Spain and France).
"Koutalisaurus", also known from late Cretaceous Spain and formerly referred to "Pararhabdodon" 
, may also be a tsintaosaurin because of its association with the latter genus; some recent work also suggests it may indeed be referrable to "Pararhabdodon".
The little flying squid is said to be dwarf species of flying squid compared to the other species of "Todarodes", the largest female recorded to date had a mantle length of 74mm and the largest male measured 68mm mantle. The maximum mantle length is not thought to exceed 100mm, compared to 500mm for the Japanese flying squid. It also has relatively small fins which only have a length equivalent to 25 to 31% of the mantle length (35-40% in the Japanese flying squid). It has a cylindrical, muscular body, typical of related species, which tapers to a short, pointed tail.
The dot-winged crake ("Porzana spiloptera") is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. Despite its morphological similarities, the assignment to the genus "Porzana" is not correct. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA placed it in the predominantly South American clade "Laterallus", and further analyses revealed that it is the sister species of the world's smallest flightless bird, the Inaccessible Island rail ("Atlantisia rogersi"). Stervander et al. (2019) proposed that the dot-winged crake should be referred to as "Laterallus spilopterus".
The diet of "Pteranodon" is known to have included fish; fossilized fish bones have been found in the stomach area of one "Pteranodon", and a fossilized fish bolus has been found between the jaws of another "Pteranodon", specimen AMNH 5098. Numerous other specimens also preserve fragments of fish scales and vertebrae near the torso, indicating that fish made up a majority of the diet of "Pteranodon" (though they may also have taken invertebrates).
Baryonyx () is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous Period, about 130–125 million years ago. The first skeleton was discovered in 1983 in the Weald Clay Formation of Surrey, England, and became the holotype specimen of B. walkeri, named by palaeontologists Alan J. Charig and Angela C. Milner in 1986. The generic name, "Baryonyx", means "heavy claw" and alludes to the animal's very large claw on the first finger; the specific name, "walkeri", refers to its discoverer, amateur fossil collector William J. Walker. The holotype specimen is one of the most complete theropod skeletons from the UK (and remains the most complete spinosaurid), and its discovery attracted media attention. Specimens later discovered in other parts of the United Kingdom and Iberia have also been assigned to the genus.
The possible "Sinosauropteryx" specimen GMV 2124 ("Sinosauropteryx?" sp.) was found with three mammal jaws in its gut region. Hurum, Luo, and Kielan-Jaworowska (2006) identified two of these jaws as belonging to "Zhangheotherium" and the third to "Sinobaatar", showing that these two mammals were part of the animal's diet. "Zhangheotherium" is known to have had a spur on the ankle, like the modern platypus, which would indicate that "Sinosauropteryx" fed on possibly venomous mammals.
In 2010 Dr. Mike Benton from the University of Bristol analyzed the remains of "Sinosauropteryx", "Confuciusornis", "Caudipteryx", and "Sinornithosaurus" from the Yixian and also discovered melanosomes. It was determined that "Sinosauropteryx" had orange feathers and that its tail was striped. Given the feathers were brightly colored and ill-suited for flight it is hypothesized that this species used its feathers for display. A 2017 study also reported that the body coloration of "Sinosauropteryx" extended to the face, creating a raccoon-like "mask" around the eyes.
While "Sinosauropteryx" had feather-like structures, it was not very closely related to the previous "first bird" "Archaeopteryx". There are many dinosaur clades that were more closely related to "Archaeopteryx" than "Sinosauropteryx" was, including the deinonychosaurians, the oviraptorosaurians, and the therizinosauroids. This indicates that feathers may have been a characteristic of many theropod dinosaurs, not just the obviously bird-like ones, making it quite likely that equally distant animals such as "Compsognathus" had feathers as well.
The specimen NIGP 127587 was preserved with the remains of a lizard in its gut region, indicating that small, fast-moving animals made up part of the diet of "Sinosauropteryx prima". Numerous lizards of this type have been found in the same rocks as "Sinosauropteryx". These lizards have been interpreted as most likely belonging to the genus "Dalinghosaurus". "Dalinghosaurus" was probably a fast-running lizard adapted to living in open habitats, much like "Sinosauropteryx" itself.