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MAN MAY HAVE FOUND `MISSING LINK' BETWEEN DINOSAURS AND BIRDS(New Zealand Press Association Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Wellington, Feb 21 NZPA - A Napier amateur palaeontologist has found a rare fossil he believes could prove to be one of the missing links between dinosaurs and birds. Trevor Crabtree, who has previously uncovered many fossilised remains in the Napier/Wairoa region, estimates his latest find -- going by the skin and feather quills -- lived 130 million years ago, which dates it to the Jurassic period. ``By the tail alone, it can be seen it is from the pteredon family,'' he told Hawke's Bay Today. ``Pteredons were flying reptiles, but this one has the wings of a bird.'' He said the only record that he could locate of a similar find linking flying reptiles and birds was a possible discovery in China. ``The problem is that the evolutionary lines are too diverse and there are too many gaps in the fossil records. ``The connecting links have still to be discovered.'' Mr Crabtree's find has been scanned and an X-ray sent to Auckland in an attempt to further unlock its secrets. Photos have also been e-mailed to palaeontologists throughout the world to establish whether anything similar has been found. NZPA WGT dj mgr |