Archaeoraptor

Archaeoraptor is a fake ( from two different species A joint ) Fossil, a chimera.

The fossil found in July 1997 in the Chinese province of Liaoning, that even as a "missing link " ( link ) was celebrated between dinosaurs and birds, two years later than clever forgery turned out. A Chinese farmer had a bird skeleton with tail bone of different origin completed in order to obtain a higher price for the Fund on the fossil market.

Stephen Czerkas, owner of a Dinosaur Museum in Utah had bought it in early 1999 and then the National Geographic Society contacted. In the accompanying magazine of the " sensational discovery " in the issue was presented in November 1999. But shortly after the publication of the first doubts were raised.

By consuming investigations that have been made, among others, the Chinese paleontologist Xu Xing, was found in 2000, that the tail of the forgery of an unknown type, dromaeosaurid Microraptor zhaoianus comes, the smallest found so far theropods.

In 2002, the systematic allocation of the front portion clarified. We went to CT examinations initially still believe that it could have been here up to five single copies of two or more species, Zhonghe Zhou was a colleague of Xu prove that the fossil bones of one animal came from. It is the most complete skeleton of Yanornis martini, a bird from the Lower Cretaceous.

Even if it is a forgery, the parts of the Fossil assembly are entirely of scientific value.