Scientists and explorers of the unknown have been trying to understand the world as it exists today and millions of years ago.
It’s a complex task, and that means researchers sometimes misunderstand things. And that’s fine, it’s actually pretty cool. Creative and systematic inquiry is the way science advances and we can learn more about planet Earth.
With pointed teeth and bulging eyes, this tiny prehistoric animal was trapped in a piece of amber and made headlines last year. Paleontologists have admitted that this small animal was a dinosaur the size of a hummingbird.
But it turned out that the specimen was not a bird or a dinosaur, but a lizard, the torso of which took the form of a beak over the years.
The researchers said the skull was distorted by the action of amber, which consists of bubbles of tree resin that formed on the trunk and hardened, inflating the bird’s shape. A second amber specimen that retained the scales and soft tissue showed lizard-like characteristics, but the scientists said it did not resemble any lizard alive today.
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