As a former student of Paleontology I was taught that Archaeopteryx was the 'missing link' in the evolution of birds from reptiles.
It now appears we were wrong all along and those scientists from China who keep astounding us all with their discoveries have announced a new ancestoral 'missing link' with the discovery of a wierd looking creature they've called
Epidexipteryx hui.
This extremely camp looking creature dates from the Jurassic period and slightly predates
Archaeopteryx. There is no truth behind the claims that it is actually not an avian ancestor but a distant relative of well known Mr Humphries from 'Are you being served'. Claims have also been made that it didn't die out due to evolutionary pressures but in fact was made extinct through being at No. 42 on the Chinese menu! A fact that, as a trained Scientist, I can also disprove.
Epidexipteryx hui didn't become extinct in the true sense of the word but evolved in to the folllowing:
You read it here before reading it on any pseudo scientific bird groups newsletter!
Epidexipteryx is an ancestor of Sonic the Hedgehog and as such has no avian characteristics (apart from feathers and my wife had those for our daughters wedding) and as such can't be ticked or split.
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