Microraptor Gui: The Dinosaur with Four Wings Knowing that pterodactyls belong to a separate group of reptiles than dinosaurs, the thought of a dinosaur with wings may seem somewhat strange. But a fairly recent archeological find adds an extra detail to make this idea truly bizarre: a dinosaur with four wings. Microraptor gui, discovered by Xing Xu and colleagues, is believed to be a kind of missing link between strictly ground-dwelling dinosaurs and birds, namely Archaeopteryx, the earliest
The Microraptor Gui: Link Between Bird and Dinosaur The Debate: For years paleontologists have debated intensely about the origin of birds. How did air-borne birds evolve? How did they learn to take flight? Are they linked to dinosaurs? If they are, which species of these reptiles are the birds closest related to? The Find: From 2001 and 2002, six new basal dromaeosaurid specimens from the Lower Cretaceaous Jehol Group in Chaoyang Basin in western Liaoning, China, were found. These six
species called Microraptor gui, a stem from the previous species Microraptor. The discovery of the fossil was found in the beds of Liaoning Province of the northeast China. They have seemed to measure 77cm long in diameter and lived in trees and survived by using here wing spanned to glide through branches. These birds use inter limb skin flaps to leap from branch to branch. It has been stirring up questions about which extinct reptiles do birds really belong to. “Microraptor gui: Researchers
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
while falling would gain enough speed enabling them to fly. Opposing the arboreal theorists were there cursorial theorists who felt flight evolved from la... ... middle of paper ... ... tree to gain enough speed to obtain flight. When Microraptor gui was discovered in 2000, this was an enormous gain for arboreal theorists. This well preserved creature provided evidence that flight evolved from tree-dwelling animals. Even though it is still not widely accepted, it gives us a new look on the