Is it charming? Is it peculiar? Personally, I consider Yi charming because it’s peculiar.

Unlike bat wings, which are supported by their finger bones, Yi’s membranous wings stretch across an extension of the wrist bone. What a testament to nature’s ability to take a wildly different route and still reach the same destination.

It must be noted that the extraordinary wing membranes that make this animal seem so unique were actually all the rage in its natural habitat. It shared the limelight with gliding mammals and flying pterosaurs, which begs the question: Who wore it best?

Among all of their strange traits, members of its family have extremely long third fingers. Until we'd seen Yi in action, many paleontologists thought that they used their fingers to dig bugs out of wood like an aye-aye from Madagascar, does today.