The Microraptor Fossil Discovery Sheds Light on the Evolution of Flight

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The Microraptor Fossil Discovery Sheds Light on the Evolution of Flight

A recent discovery in northeastern China might shine new light on the evolution of flight for birds. This has been a highly debated topic for some time, since scientists are uncertain if flight began in trees or on the ground. The recent discovery of the Microraptor gui may provide evidence for either side of this particular heated debate. The Microraptor is a small carnivorous dinosaur that has long feathers attached to the hind limbs, arms and tail. The feathered limbs are thought to be a “four-winged” gliding characteristic of the Microraptor. Given that the feathers were used for gliding instead of flying, this supports the theory that flight began in the trees and not on land. If so, this finding will be seen as a very important stage in the evolution of flight for a bird.

The Microraptor fossil was discovered in the lakebeds of Liaoning, China. This finding has been proven to be that of a carnivorous vertebrate, which belongs to the dromaeosaurid species. The dromaeosaurid has long been considered to be a non-avian theropod. This discovery was made by Xu Xing and his colleges who are referred to as the Jehol Group. The Microraptor is a small dinosaur, with a length of only roughly 30.3 inches. It has a long tail and contains approximately 26 vertebrate, which is actually a relatively small number. A characteristic that makes the Microraptor different from other dromaeosaurids is that its sternum is a single flat plate rather than two unfused plates. The Microraptor's trunk length is relatively short, but it nevertheless makes up about 50% of the hind limb length. The Microraptor is considered a Dromaeosauridae because of its siz...

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...es in the future.

Work Cited

“Amazing New Feathered Dinosaur Found In China” Dinohunters.com 26 April 2001. 31 March 2004. <http://www.dinohunters.com/History/Microraptor.htm>.

Hecht Jeff. “Micro-raptor” Newscientist.com 06 December 2000. 31 March 2004. <http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns9999244>.

Padian Kevin. “Four-winged dinosaurs, bird precursors, or neither?” Bioscience May

2003. 31 March 2004. <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=00

0000348902991&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&Vtype= PQD&

RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1080696559&clientId=12342>.

Xing Xu, Zhonghe Zhou, Xiaolin Wang, Xuewen Kuang, Fucheng Zhang and Xiangke

Du. “Four-winged dinosaurs from China” Nature 23 January 2003. 31 March 2004. <http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journ al/v421/n 6921/full/nature01342_fs.html>.

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