Chinese Paleontologists Create a False Fossil Link Between Birds and Di

Chinese Paleontologists Create a False Fossil Link Between Birds and Dinosaurs An article published in January of 2000, â€Å"All mixed up over birds and dinosaurs†, by Richard Monastersky in Science News Online seems to put an interesting spin on a corresponding article published about six months earlier in the scientific journal Nature. The article in Science News Online seems to imply that the article â€Å"A dromaeosaurid dinosaur with a filamentous integument from the Yixian Formation of China,† could be referring to forged fossils made up by Chinese scientists in order to provide the missing fossil link between birds and dinosaurs. The article was published on September 16, 2004, by Xing Xu and Wu discusses the actual scientific findings of the Archaeoraptor lioningensis fossil, found in the northeastern province of Liaoning, China of what is the Sinornithosaurus millenii dinosaur. Monastersky and other paleontologists seem to believe the fakery occurred in that the tail discovered for the dromaeosaurid is really a mirror image of the ta il of the Archaeoraptor. The articles present completely different sides of the story as one being strictly scientific and the other article presenting damaging information that could prove to be dramatic for the Chinese paleontologists that were apparently trying to make a quick profit off the findings. Some background information on dromaeosaurids is they’re poorly characterized meat-eating dinosaurs that are a group of theropods known to have the closest relationship to birds than that of any other specimen of dinosaurs. These dinosaurs are also thought to be among the fastest and most agile dinosaurs certainly aiding in their hunting of prey. These two key features along with the bi... ... just like everyone else, but with the ever emerging technological world it seems that that code of ethics could be diminishing in one of the world’s oldest fields of study. It is a very hard thing to control and debate, but certainly scientists should try and continue to be fair and honest as they always have been. Certainly it is easy to see from this example that a scientific lie may hold up at first, but after awhile people begin to catch on and in the end it just ends up ruining reputations and careers. Works Cited Monastrersky, Richard. â€Å"All mixed up over birds and dinosaurs.† Science News Online. 15 Jan. 2000. Vol. 157, No.3. Xing Xu, Xiao-Lin Wang and Xiao-Chun Wu. â€Å"A dromaeosaurid dinosaur with a filamentous integument from the Yixian Formation of China.† Nature. 16 Sept. 1999.