L’Archeoraptor lianoningensis, un canular

In 1999 a small dinosaur fossil was discovered in the Liaoning Province, China. It was called Archeoraptor liaoningensis, and was presented as the ‘missing link between terrestrial dinosaurs and birds that could actually fly’.It had the tail of a small theropod and the arms of a primitive bird. The fossil also showed the appearance of feathers. While scientists thought the mix of advanced and primitive features is exactly what they’d expect to find in dinosaurs trying to fly, they were shocked to find the specimen a hoax. The fossil was actually a mixture of different creatures. The specimen consisted of a dinosaur tail glued to the body of a primitive bird. After all the fame and publicity the Archeoraptor received, this find is probably the biggest embarassment in Paleontologic history.