Sleeping Like a Bird? New Dinosaur Species in China

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The American Museum of Natural History and others have reported the discovery of a new species of dinosaur fossil in a curled-up, bird-like sleeping posture from the Early Cretaceous strata of Liaoning Province, China.

Fossil of Mei with its neck turned back
Fossil of Mei with its neck turned back (photographed in 2005)

The feature of turning its neck to its back and tucking its head under its wing suggests that "the characteristics of modern birds began in the age of their dinosaur ancestors."