Scientists: Tiny Flying Dinosaur Probably an Ancient Lizard

Scientists have changed their mind on what they previously marked as a tiny flying dinosaur, NBC News reports.

A fossil skull preserved in a drop of amber is more likely to be the remains of an ancient lizard and not a tiny flying dinosaur, according to a retraction issued.

The original research, which was published in March, indicated the new species was named Oculudentavis, meaning "eye tooth bird." It was thought to be the smallest dinosaur ever found, measuring just a few inches long, according to scientists.

But according to scientists, questions about the research and the discovery of a similar fossil have caused doubt on its classification as a bird-like dinosaur.

"Although the description of Oculudentavis khaungraae remains accurate, a new unpublished specimen casts doubts upon our hypothesis," the researchers wrote in a retraction in the journal Nature, which published the original research.

Jingmai O'Connor, a paleontologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology in Beijing and a co-author of the research, told Nature that data from new studies of the remains "definitely say that we were wrong."

She added the description of the new species remained accurate, and it was still very interesting to science.

The fossil was found in 2016 in northern Myanmar.

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