Archaeoraptor: Phony Feathered Dinosaur That Turned Out To Be Dinosaur Hoax

In 1999, a fossil of a small bird was promoted by the National Geographic as the link between dinosaurs and birds. Unfortunately, it was a fake.

Discovery of Archaeoraptor

Twenty-five years ago, the specimen of a small animal was put on display at a fossil show in Tucson, Arizona. Paleoartist Stephen Czerkas, owner of a small private museum, was wandering around the fossil fair when he heard that a Chinese dealer had something extraordinary.

When the dealer showed a foot-long slab of rock, Czerkas saw a stone embedded with fossilized bones of a prehistoric animal. It looked like a dinosaur that could fly.

The species had the distinctive tail of a dinosaur and the limbs of primitive birds which were endemic to its place of discovery in Liaoning Province in China. At the time, the specimen was thought to represent the evolutionary stage when dinosaurs transitioned into birds.

Czerkas bought the fossil for $80,000 with the hope of using it as a centerpiece for his museum in Blanding, Utah. As a dinosaur enthusiast, Czerkas wanted the specimen to be examined first before going on display, so he sought the help of paleontologist Phil Currie.

Together with National Geographic editor Chris Sloan, Currie studied the fossil and claimed that it is a species with both traits of a bird and a two-footed dinosaur called theropod. Their paper described the turkey-sized fossil as a "missing link in the complex chain which connects dinosaurs to birds.

After months of investigations involving X-rays and scans, the bird dinosaur was proclaimed as a new species by the National Geographic journal. It was believed to have a potential great impact on the evolution of birds.

Both Currie and Sloan agreed that the fossil should be returned to China if their findings are published. This decision, however, had led to a scandal.

Invalid Dinosaur

Weeks after the fossil was returned to China, the archaeologist was found to be a hoax. Due to a public outcry by the members of the scientific community, the National Geographic conducted an investigation to gain more insight about Archaeoraptor liaoningensis.

It was revealed that the specimen was actually two separate fossils wedged together by Chinese farmers. The tail was not joined to the rest of the specimen's body, and the surrounding rock was cracked.

The deception was revealed when Chinese researcher Xu Xing visited Liaoning and discovered that the animal's tail was stolen from a dromaeosaur. Xu and colleagues also reported that X-ray computer scans revealed that the Archaeoraptor was created from 88 fragments of rock and fossils in three layers.

In 2001, paleontologist Timothy Rowe published a research which confirmed the forgery of the fossil. According to Rowe, fragments of at least two significant specimens were joined in favor of the higher commercial value of the forgery, both of which were nearly lost to science.

The downfall of Archaeoraptor boosted the dwindling group of scientists who still believed the traditional theory that birds were more closely related to ancient gliding reptiles or crocodiles.