Yi qi The bat Winged Dinosaur

Many millions of years ago one group of feathery dinosaurs evolved to take to the air using their wings as a means of powering into the sky. However, this wasn't a linear process and there were other off shoots where these light weight creatures evolved to take to the air on different occasions. One of the most interesting examples of this was a dinosaur called YI QI and its family members that unlike the other dinosaurs that had feathery wings they had leathery bat like wings.
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If I have used artwork that belongs to you but have neglected to credit it this will just be because I was unable to find one. If this has happened please contact me and I will add a credit. Some Art work has been altered for the purposes of bettering them for video format; these alterations were done independent from the artists who created the original work, so they are not responsible for any inaccuracies that could have occurred with the changes being made.
Sources:
www.nature.com/articles/natur...
link.springer.com/article/10....
www.nature.com/articles/s4158...

[@kennethsatria6607]

We were so close to dragons being a thing.

[@darktyrannosaurus22]

But this is so obviously a Basilisk

[@SonKunSama]

Comment of the day

[@diegoandres2499]

More like a Wyvern

[@garrettelgin4742]

Honestly there’s a possibility that something even more dragon like existed but we just haven’t found the fossil yet. Maybe just a larger relative of Yi Qi was discovered centuries ago and stories popped up from there

[@ZentaBon]

@@garrettelgin4742 yeah! Makes sense. Extinction wasn't believed for a long time. I can even imagine the bones being destroyed intentionally by superstitious or warring humans.

[@aa-to6ws]

I love how dragons are now to be confirmed to be once real and nobody *bats* an eye.

[@Patmccalk]

…. Are you…. Are you proud of yourself?….. 😂

[@julianshepherd2038]

Welsh national animal. Whole of Wales couldn't be wrong.

[@onyxgrnr666]

Actually it was a big deal atleast for paleontologists like 2 years ago when it happened

[@lucasdJAdam]

Maybe fossils found in the past were ground up as medicine.

[@douglaspaulson9190]

When did we discover scaled fire breathing flying animals the size of houses?

[@professorracc.9780]

It seems like flight evolves more frequently than you would think.

[@SrValeriolete]

In arcossaurs specially

[@roku3216]

Flight, torpedo shapes for water, grasping hands, bipedal stance, isn't it neat how biology repeats itself?

[@RedbadofFrisia]

@@roku3216 i wonder sometimes if these are actually the ideal outcomes of evolution or if it is just the upper limit of their genetic heritage

[@roku3216]

@@RedbadofFrisia I don't think there's really an ideal outcome of evolution other than to adapt to the environment and resources at hand. That's why there's no end goal to evolution, just changes to survive and thrive and take advantage of opportunities like a new food resource.

[@user-nm8mt8vb3c]

Yeah. Earth sucks. Burrowing seems fun too

[@GallowglassVT]

That there's a tiny wyvern and no one can tell me otherwise.

[@Sea_Leech]

Cockatrice*

[@GallowglassVT]

@@Sea_Leech that too.

[@Sea_Leech]

@@GallowglassVT its a combination :>

[@Sea_Leech]

Wait would that mean i told you otherwise?

[@dietmilk2676]

Cant whverns breathe fire tho

[@erichtomanek4739]

The quirks of evolution. If Yi qi and co' had a little better luck, we would be calling them true birds. And we would be perplexed at the fossils of strange dinosaurs who flew with wings without membranes.

[@tylervanpeursem7627]

Or perhaps, true wyverns

[@thegameranch5935]

@@tylervanpeursem7627 ah yes monster hunter reference

[@raptierraptureredangel4165]

@@thegameranch5935 heh

[@thegameranch5935]

@@raptierraptureredangel4165 im pretty sure i typed that in 12 pm

[@raptierraptureredangel4165]

You choose . Monster hunter reference o_o

[@bruceswinford4901]

Worth pointing out that there are winged mammals who never got past the gliding stage too, so perhaps these are more comparable to sugar gliders, flying squirrels etc

[@figurativeride2258]

Everyone seeing yi qi: "We were on the verge of dragons"

[@peabrain6872]

No

[@whitewolf3051]

@@peabrain6872 What do you mean "no"? *If* they got as big as the argentavis or quetzalcoatlus, they *would* be the closet to being dragons.

[@peabrain6872]

@@whitewolf3051 dragons couldnt exist

[@whitewolf3051]

@@peabrain6872 Care to explain as to why not in detail instead of just saying they can't?

[@peabrain6872]

@@whitewolf3051 too big

[@anonperson3972]

"Membranes are in no way inferior to feathers" I hear the distant screaming of my old professor (bird specialist) through the void...

[@alioramus1637]

Actually feathers are more resistant to damage than wing membranes. And feathers you can regrow if damaged unlike wing membranes of skin.

[@dynamoterror18]

These tiny dinosaurs were the closest animals we ever got to real life dragons.

[@dietmilk2676]

Dragons are physically impossible though. Too large to fly and cant breathe fire

[@dibershai6009]

@@dietmilk2676 It is obvious that they wont be able to breathe fire, but they would be able to fly.

[@dietmilk2676]

@@dibershai6009 birds can fly

[@JellyAntz]

@@dietmilk2676 big dragons would be highly unlikely, unless they have both massive yet lightweight flight muscles and massive wings, which is ridiculous. Tiny wyverns or eastern dragons would be possible, though. Bulkier wyverns would likely have to max out at the size of the largest flying birds or big cats, or maybe up to quetzalcoatlus if they are really skinny. With a few more modifications, the flying or gliding snake is basically already a chinese dragon that glides, and you could scale it up to a generous size.

[@thegameranch5935]

@@dibershai6009 nah, i think it’s possible that they could breath fire, if they existed of course. There a book which claimed that dinosaurs are dragons which is ridiculous BUT i think that an organism could able to breath fire (or a very hot chemical) with that mechanism, just not on the crest of a parasaurolophus

[@Bajolzas]

Me before watching the video: that's not a dinosaur, it's a pterosaur. Me after the video started: wait what!?

[@princesseville6889]

This thing is everything, a dinosaur, almost a bird, kinda a bat, a fucking dragon - you name it lol.

[@AnasuiJolyne]

Looks like a feathered Wyvern.

[@darktyrannosaurus22]

Too small; Basilisk would be better fit

[@pedrosabino8751]

More like a cockatrice

[@johndoherty487]

@@pedrosabino8751 Basilisk and Cockatrice are the same thing. Just different names.

[@mrsnake6562]

@@johndoherty487 Well actually Basilisks are depicted as more like a generic reptilian whilst cockatrices are depicted as more avian, and since it's a close relation to birds, that would make it a cockatrice

[@pedrosabino8751]

@@johndoherty487 Really?! I didn't know, thanks ✌😉

[@jimmartin156]

Maybe the paucity of fossils is down to being forest dwellers. Forests aren’t an ideal place for fossilisation to occur. Plus they were fragile.

[@whs1pmjazz]

damn you don't hear paucity very often

[@moonooze6171]

That makes sense

[@FPSIreland2]

Paucity… from the Latin paucus/um/a I love you.

[@ghostx4862]

About time this Wyvern got attention. I always fantasize about bat winged dinosaur as a kid, just recently found out that they actually existed and you can imagine my happy surprise

[@devinmulder8188]

this is too underrated I enjoy this so much

[@123Comrade]

Yi qi could have evolved into dragons if birbs weren't bullies 😅

[@123Comrade]

@John Barber The spelling of birbs is deliberate. Its a corruption of bird just as doge is to dog. Good day sir! :)

[@observingeye9579]

@@123Comrade "corruption" is....far from the word that should be used to describe someone using the meme version of 'bird' rather than the original word.

[@123Comrade]

@@observingeye9579 Corruption - the process by which a word or expression is changed from its original state to one regarded as erroneous or debased.

[@dorian4646]

Can dragon do wuewuewue tho?

[@amari6229]

@@123Comrade you are correct. i love your energy, have a wonderful day ♡ ♡

[@joelsmith3473]

Thank you very much for the mostly accurate pronunciation. Too many creators don't even appear to try.

[@mikaroni_and_cheez]

Dragons or no, the discovery of animals like these really help develop _new_ fantasy creations Finding reality to make your fantasy stronger

[@Sea_Leech]

Mothlight ice been watching you for months and id say out of the prehistoric animal channels like yours, yours is the best

[@lightningboltt5437]

But pbs eons and ben g thomss are also realky good

[@blazingtrs6348]

dragons were real this made me like this world just a bit more

[@xavieryartz5358]

When I see moth light video pop up in my notifications I know its gonna be a good 10 minutes

[@nightuniverse8314]

Convergent evolution is brilliant

[@scheimong]

Good job on nailing that mandarin pronunciation. The 'q' consonant is notoriously confusing for non-mandarin speakers.

[@bowiedoctor9156]

Interesting though that bats have competed in the air with birds successfully - finding their niches, but they are excellent fliers.

[@ms_it_is]

This give hope for actual dragons

[@ms.dragon1918]

i like to say if these dinosaurs would have still lived and evolved they would either become a type of dragon with wings on their arms or those birds from Godzilla vs kong

[@kennethsatria6607]

Those were more like gliding snakes though

[@geesecouchtaming7223]

@@kennethsatria6607 he meant the scene with Kong's temple there is a creature called Hellhawk

[@NikoLiberty1000]

Half these comments are lamenting that Yi Qi didn’t evolve into a dragon, but does anyone else just find Yi Qi surprising cute?

[@bluetannery1527]

No fucking way that's so cool

[@N0sf3r4tuR1s3n]

I find it fascinating that this other clade of theropods was evolving a different means of gliding, and perhaps, if they hadn't died out, they might have given rise to an entirely different group of flying animals.

[@DINO_X65]

Finally a new video.

[@Tobunari]

This is one of the best channels on KZbin. You cannot change my mind.

[@MarcHatePage]

I love your vides not only because of the educational content, but also because of your voice and nice reading of the script.

[@hughgriffin4098]

I get so excited every time you upload

[@Ecoraptor3339]

Hey look, it's my avatar.

[@genericdragon7260]

Excellent work! Thank you!

[@loganx1039]

we came this close to having dragons, but evolution favored birds instead.

[@ianandersen9242]

I ve been watching your channel for some time now, and absolutely love it! I ve been learning a lot more of especies evolution thanks to the great work you are doing on the channel.... keep on going! cheers from Chile, America del Sur

[@jommyheyman1180]

I know this isn't what you do here on this channel but from this I'm now curious about which kind of memberous wings are more structurally effective and flexible role-wise: Bat wings or Pterosaur wings? I assume the Bat wings are more flexible due to there being multiple bending points on the wings while Pterodactyls basically had "stiffboards" for wings since they only had one finger to change for specializations.

[@Bhoddisatva]

Pterosaur membranes were thicker than bat membranes and included an intricate system of fibrous support shafts and muscles fed by blood vessels. I wouldn't know which wing is 'better' but pterosaur wings kept them dominant fliers for a hundred million years. Worked for them.

[@tjarkschweizer]

Easily the pterosaur wing. Pterosaur wings are vastly superior to both bat and bird wings. Very robust and flexible at the same time. Not really a surprise though, pterosaurs were the most advanced flying vertebrate. A worthy rival has yet to evolve.

[@andrewsuryali8540]

From an aerodynamic perspective, it isn't possible to scale up bat wings as a flapping structure to allow it to power the flight of large animals BECAUSE there are too many bending points. Large scale wings need to flex but not bend. In that sense alone, pterosaurs are optimal. Bats are supermaneuverable small fliers and they're optimized for exactly that kind of flight regime.

[@jommyheyman1180]

@@andrewsuryali8540 Ah that makes sense. So it's like the difference between hawks and eagles or just big birds vs small ones except on a far larger and exaggerated scale, interesting. So if birds somehow went extinct and left the daylight skys for the bats, and if they attempted to evolve into Pterosaur niches it'd likely take longer than Pterosaurs to evolve the proper solid wings needed to do so.

[@onebilliontacos3405]

How the hell did I not know that this was a thing?

[@oerlikon20mm29]

I’ve been waiting and I am satisfied, great video

[@kai_plays_khomus]

Thanks for the wonderful video!

[@lizardlegend42]

As can be shown from my profile pic, I approve of this video

[@wustenfuchsgaming1226]

Early Bird for once.

[@DrMalsyn]

More bird-like then early bird, I'd say.

[@wustenfuchsgaming1226]

@@DrMalsyn Sign^^

[@thelaughinghyenas8465]

Very nice! Thank you.

[@jasminelaceyfitz1724]

I love your videos all very interesting, I like how you explain everything x

[@user-hu3iy9gz5j]

This channel is wholesome!

[@lukedeets5016]

So glad I found this channel. These videos are like crack to me.

[@GS-el8ll]

fantastic paelo art in this one!

[@kanamesuzaku1138]

Bro u should have a mil subs by now ur videos are great

[@kaisummerall2044]

I feel like there’s so much more to the story

[@dvdv8197]

Nanananannanananannana... Bat Wing Dinosaur. 🤷‍♀️

[@johnbirkenheier45]

These videos are the best. (:

[@CosmicShieldMaiden]

Love these videos

[@android65mar]

Excellent video!

[@jefferywise1906]

Bats and flying foxes evolved when birds were around and and became successful. True going nocturnal as they did. So perhaps competition wasn’t a limiting factor.

[@Tixsi11]

Fun fact hollow bones do not make a bird lighter. Hollow bones are also called pneumatized bones, meaning they’re filled with space for air. It is thought that this structure helps with oxygen intake during flight. Air sacs are attached to the hollow areas in a bird’s bones. Essentially, their lungs extend throughout their bones. This helps birds take in oxygen while both inhaling and exhaling.

[@mrmivisuals]

Yayy he’s back!

[@BlackpilledSaihara]

Diapsids evolved wings several times, while Synapsids only once Diapsids 1 : 0 Synapsids

[@fraidnaught9067]

Calling it kind of early there, you're gonna feel real silly when some winged tarsier or marsupial bat-analogue fossils turn up some day.

[@BlackpilledSaihara]

@@fraidnaught9067 I highly doubt there would be marsupial bat fossils. Like, how you imagine flying with baby in your pouch?

[@fraidnaught9067]

@@BlackpilledSaihara if years of learning about nature in my admittedly amateur capacity has taught me anything, it's that evolution doesn't have to make sense.

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

@@fraidnaught9067 Or simply... life... uh... finds a way...

[@adrianortega1431]

I mean, that depends on what you mean by “wings.” If you include the gliding membranes used by various groups, there are plenty of living and extinct mammals who evolved those.

[@joeshmoe8345]

Thanks that was great

[@FeatheredCreature]

That's one interesting dinosaur

[@maozilla9149]

good show

[@TheHeroicNinja]

YES FINALLY! Its been so long since I’ve seen this discovery in a time kids magazine. Now I get to enjoy an info dumb on em

[@paulbelarmino93]

I love how people say that it's the real dragon yet it's more of like a wyvern.

[@bobabola4605]

amazing

[@hardgay7537]

Dinosaurs having to put up with miniwyverns instead of bats and pidgeons seems kinda cute, tbh.

[@Som3one366]

wow mini dragon

[@pseudonils1837]

Love the videos! Can you do one on how falcons and parrots diverged?

[@wonkybee7612]

I came for the dragon comments and I was not disappointed

[@stax6092]

Always good.

[@benw9949]

Yi Qi -- If I understand the Pinyin phonetics right, "Yee Chee" instead of "Ee Chee." The Q may be slightly different than our Tch sound.

[@arianheight750]

I'd actually say mothlight's pronunciation is fairly on point here. The Q sound is indeed different from the Tch sound but it's a bit hard to describe with words how it's different. The closes thing in IPA I can come up with for the Q sound is [ts]

[@kotarojujo2737]

ah yes, bat chicken

[@dynamosaurusimperious2718]

This sure was a great MLM video on the *Dragonsaurus* also I wish y'all have a great day.

[@vtian]

can't wait to turn this into soup with my time machine

[@TaterChip91]

This channel needs to partner up with an unintentional ASMR channel

[@callunas]

Good little dragon

[@kingpest13]

You have to wonder what are we going to miss from never finding a fossil.

[@vassa1972]

Interesting video

[@futuristica1710]

That’s one insane membrane.

[@xavieryartz5358]

Nice

[@prla5400]

Good on getting the pronunciation right

[@davidlor7900]

Hearing your voice reminds me always of Ben G thomas

[@raphlvlogs271]

the original miniature dragon.

[@KougarManx468]

In an alternate universe their decendants whould still be around today , instead of birds in our own universe .

[@S.E.-hw6zh]

He looks like a dragon!

[@garychynne1377]

interesting. thank yew

[@seedhillbruisermusic7939]

when I was a wee kid dinosaurs were huge stupid lumbering reptilian behemoths with brains the size of a walnut. Now they're highly adapted mostly feathered fast moving creatures. It's great how they've changed even in my lifetime. And now this, a batwinged dinosaur, how brilliant. They just get weirder and weirder. I love science.

[@lightningboltt5437]

Can you do india in the palecene

[@gorillabum4182]

I think I live in a simulation, a few hours ago I just found out about this dinosaur on some old archived post on Reddit 6 years ago, and now I opened youtube and you made this video 1 hour ago WTF

[@LaurenticAspie]

A bloody real-life cockatrice!

[@draco-amercon]

If anything these creatures remind me of the pseudo dragon in d&d

[@Iguana5k]

Really sad they never had a chance cause birds were already around. Imagine them managing to pull off powered flight. They already looked kinda like Wyverns in that proto form.

[@johanliebert6785]

Could you please add subtitles for non-native speakers? Your videos are super interesting, but sometimes I can't follow.

[@Zach-ku6eu]

When are you going to finally compile a playlist?!

[@juandiegovalverde1982]

They looked like little dragons.

[@captainbritain7379]

Now that’s a very different Christmas carol.

[@ozzo870]

IRL DRAGONS!!! WYVERNS!!!

[@tikaalik]

Still waiting for the full-sized version.

[@JuicyJam]

DRINKING GAME!!! Take a sip of your drink when there is: - a time lineage - a genetic tree - a new animal's illustration - a size comparison chart Take a shot when: - the narrator says "however"

[@pablolongobardi7240]

I wonder if mammals would be able to evolve modified hair structures and have some sort of pseudo feathers

[@brianedwards7142]

If all these groups were evolving similar limbs for flight then it is probable they all had a similar lifestyle. In the Amazon it is harder to get around at ground level than in the canopy. I believe one day we might find a dino that brachiated.

[@thetwelfth9987]

Damn birds they stunted the rise of dragons