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More from History_Furs
- Microraptor
- "small plunderer"
- early Cretaceous
- 1 foot long
- 8 - 16 ounces
Fast Facts:
~ Microraptor is one of the smallest known dinosaurs.
~ Microraptor is closely related to Archeopteryx.
~ Microraptor was covered in simple, primitive feathers.
Micropraptor is known to be feathered and is one of a series of extraordinary fossil discoveries that have revolutionized our understanding of the origin of birds, bird flight, and feathers. Essentially, the discovery of Microraptor makes resistance to the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs (and that many types of dinosaurs evolved from birds) all but irrational.
Additionally, these finds have proven that feathers initially evolved for purposes other than flight in small dinosaurs, and that flying birds almost certainly evolved from gliding protobird theropod predators. (The evolutionary path from gliding to powered flight was also followed by pterosaurs and bats.)
The evolution of birds from predatory theropod dinosaurs is supported by the existence of more than 300 detailed anatomical similarities between predatory dinosaurs and bird skeletons alone. In fact, birds and predatory dinosaurs are so closely related that there are more differences between different predatory groups of dinosaurs than between birds and their closest predatory dinosaur relatives!
In addition to Microraptor, dinosaurs that are known to be feathered include: Sinsauropteryx, Caudipteryx, Beipiaosaurus, and Sinornithosaurus. It is very likely that many other related dinosaurs were also feathered, especially when small.
From the Dinosaur Walk Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
~
harui
- "small plunderer"
- early Cretaceous
- 1 foot long
- 8 - 16 ounces
Fast Facts:
~ Microraptor is one of the smallest known dinosaurs.
~ Microraptor is closely related to Archeopteryx.
~ Microraptor was covered in simple, primitive feathers.
Micropraptor is known to be feathered and is one of a series of extraordinary fossil discoveries that have revolutionized our understanding of the origin of birds, bird flight, and feathers. Essentially, the discovery of Microraptor makes resistance to the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs (and that many types of dinosaurs evolved from birds) all but irrational.
Additionally, these finds have proven that feathers initially evolved for purposes other than flight in small dinosaurs, and that flying birds almost certainly evolved from gliding protobird theropod predators. (The evolutionary path from gliding to powered flight was also followed by pterosaurs and bats.)
The evolution of birds from predatory theropod dinosaurs is supported by the existence of more than 300 detailed anatomical similarities between predatory dinosaurs and bird skeletons alone. In fact, birds and predatory dinosaurs are so closely related that there are more differences between different predatory groups of dinosaurs than between birds and their closest predatory dinosaur relatives!
In addition to Microraptor, dinosaurs that are known to be feathered include: Sinsauropteryx, Caudipteryx, Beipiaosaurus, and Sinornithosaurus. It is very likely that many other related dinosaurs were also feathered, especially when small.
From the Dinosaur Walk Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
~
harui
Category Photography / Still Life
Species Dinosaur
Size 1024 x 768px
File Size 172.1 kB
Nope... not at all. Microraptor fossils have actually been found with imprints, so we know they had "wings" on their arms and legs. They were also asymmetrical feathers (like modern birds have) that are considered pretty advanced by non-avian dinosaur standards. A more accurate representation of "primitive" feathers in dinosaurs is probably Sinosauropteryx. :)
Well, depends on what your definition of "full feathers" is - feathers exist along a continuum of advancement. Microraptor's flight feathers were not as advanced as, say, a bald eagle's primaries, but they were considerably more advanced than most non-avian dinosaurs, and from an evolutionary perspective, were also more "advanced" than the arm feathers of flightless modern birds, like an emu.
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