Microraptor
Microraptor gui
Microraptor provides exceptional evidence for the diversity of feathers and flight strategies before modern birds.
Image: David W. E. Hone, Helmut Tischlinger, Xing Xu, Fucheng Zhang · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
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Characteristics
- Scientific name
- Microraptor gui
- Period
- Early Cretaceous (Barremian)
- Lived
- 125–120 Ma (125 million years ago)
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Habitat
- Forest, Airborne
- Length (estimate)
- 0.8 m
- Mass (estimate)
- 1 kg
Description
Microraptor was a small feathered theropod with long flight feathers on both its forelimbs and hindlimbs. These four wing-like surfaces may have supported gliding or limited flight, but its exact posture in the air remains uncertain. Pigment residues indicate dark, iridescent feathers in some specimens. Stomach contents containing fish, birds and small mammals point to a varied diet.
Habitat
Dense forests around lakes in north-eastern China.
Fossil sites
Jehol Biota, Liaoning
Jiufotang Formation
Cultural profile: China →
Contemporaries in the database
Sources: Microraptor