Four-Winged Fossil Sheds Light on Dinosaur Flight

In a latest finding, researchers have unearthed fossilized remains of the largest four-winged dinosaur that sheds light on how these predators might have flown.

An international team, led by Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County paleontologist Dr. Luis Chiappe, discovered a dinosaur fossil with long feathered tail. They believe the feather was used for decreasing the descent speed and also for ensuring safe landings.

The newly-discovered well-preserved dinosaur was unearthed from the Liaoning Province of northeastern China. Around 125-million-years-old, the fossil has been dubbed Changyuraptor yangi. The site where the fossil was unearthed from had witnessed a rise in the finding of such feathered dinosaurs over the last decade. The team were surprised to see a complete set of feathers covering the entire body of the raptorial dinosaur.

"At a foot in length, the amazing tail feathers of Changyuraptor are by far the longest of any feathered dinosaur," said Chiappe.

Scientists at the University of Cape Town analyzed the microstructure of the bone and claimed that raptor was a mature adult and weighed approximately 9 pounds. Spanning four feet in length, the Changyuraptir was the biggest of all the four-winged dinosaurs. It is because of the long feathers that were attached to the legs these microraptorine dinos were dubbed 'four-winged' as the feathers near the legs looked like a second set of wings.

Due to the presence of the long feathers at both legs and arms, the researchers conclude these dinosaurs could at least fly.

The fossilized dinosaur had sharp pointing teeth and claws that clearly indicated it was a carnivore. But the researchers could not identify the diet these fed on.  The remains in the stomach included fish and birds. The dinosaur gets its second name based on the Chinese financier related to the project and the first name means long feathered raptor, according to University Herald.

Even though not much is known on how these feathered predators used the sky. The new finding highlights the role of the tail feathers during flight control.  A safe landing is very important for larger flyers.

"It makes sense that the largest microraptorines had especially large tail feathers -- they would have needed the additional control," added Dr. Michael Habib, a researcher at the University of Southern California and a co-author of the paper.

This findings merges with the theory that flight preceded the origin of birds as the dinosaur had several bird-like traits (before the evolution of birds). The new fossil reveals that dinosaur flight was not just limited to small animals but also large dinosaurs.

"Numerous features that we have long associated with birds in fact evolved in dinosaurs long before the first birds arrived on the scene," said co-author Dr. Alan Turner of Stony Brook University (New York). "This includes things such as hollow bones, nesting behavior, feathers...and possibly flight."

The finding was published in the journal Nature Communications.