Microraptor gui
"Gu's tiny robber" (Xu et al, 2003)
"my-cro-rap-tor goo-ee"
Why on earth would the tiny dino-bird
Microraptor need four wings? Scientists attribute it to an early experiment in the evolution of flight: it could only glide, or use its wings to power leap up from the ground. Its long feathers on its hind legs made it appear to have four wings! Theoretically the hind wings might have been used for steering, as it glided from tree to tree. Its long, bony tail — with a fan of feathers at the end — also may have been used to help steer or generate lift. At 2-½ feet long and weighing only a few pounds,
Microraptor was one of the smallest dinosaurs ever discovered.
Of course, a body covered in feathers has other advantages.
Microraptor's body was kept warm; even in cold weather. This allowed it to live a more active lifestyle, staying one step ahead of its prey.
Microraptor had an enlarged "killing claw" on the foot, identical to its larger cousins
Velociraptor and
Deinonychus, and was part of the same family of carnivorous dinosaurs. The claw may have been used for slashing or climbing up larger prey, but more likely it was used for pinning down small victims while the serrated teeth in
Microraptor's mouth delivered the killing blow.
Microraptor is only known from the 130-million-year-old rocks of China and left no modern-day descendents.
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Size: 2.5 ft long
