A Jurassic Period dinosaur, the Yi qi may have glided around like a bat, acting as a precursor to modern birds.

According to Live Science, the Yi qi's (translation: "strange wings") wings were made up of a membranous material, resembling those of a bat rather than a bird. The study, published in the journal Nature, details the first dinosaur known to have such wings.

"This is the most unexpected discovery I have ever made, even though I have found a few really bizarre dinosaurs in my career," study co-author Xing Xu, a paleontologist at Linyi University in China, told Live Science.

Knowing the nature of their discovery, the researchers reportedly sought a number of different ways to verify the fossil's authenticity. Though its wings were not feathered, Yi qi fits into a theropod subspecies known as scansoriopterygids. Yi qi was also quite tiny, but probably ate meat.

"[Yi qi was] a failed experiment in flight along the line to birds," Xu said, "but we don't know why [it failed]."

Smithsonian Magazine noted the Yi qi dinosaur clearly had an aerodynamic quality about it, but figuring out how it flew - or glided about - will be the focus of future studies.

"This is an astounding discovery, and I think it's one of the most unexpected and downright bizarre dinosaurs that has been found over the past few years," Stephen Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland not involved in the study, told Live Science.

Luis Chiappe, a paleontologist and director of the Dinosaur Institute at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, also did not participate in the study but once advised one of its authors.

"I'm not saying this fossil has been tampered [with]," he said. "Because of this being a very odd body plan, it's going to be quite controversial and hard to swallow."