An international research team involving UCL scientists has described a new species of Oculudentavis, providing further evidence that the animal first identified as a hummingbird-sized dinosaur was actually a lizard. The new species, named Oculudentavis naga in honor of the Naga people of Myanmar and India, and was studied using a partial skeleton that includes a complete skull, exquisitely preserved in amber with visible scales and soft tissue. The specimen is in the same genus as Oculudentavis khaungraae , whose original description as the smallest known bird was retracted last year. The two fossils were found in the same area and are about 99 million years old. Researchers have published their findings in Current Biology . The team used CT scans to separate, analyse and compare each bone in the two species digitally, uncovering a number of physical characteristics that earmark the small animals as lizards. However, the research team said Oculudentavis is so strange it was difficult to categorise without close examination of its features.
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