A new raptorial dinosaur with exceptionally long feathering provides insights into dromaeosaurid flight performance

Han, Gang; Chiappe, Luis M.; Ji, Shu-An; Habib, Michael; Turner, Alan H.; Chinsamy, Anusuya; Liu, Xueling; Han, Lizhuo

doi:10.1038/ncomms5382

Cited by 90Paleontology and Evolutionary BiologyFossil Insects in AmberEvolution and Paleontology Studies

A new raptorial dinosaur with exceptionally long feathering provides insights into dromaeosaurid flight performance

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Han, Gang, Chiappe, Luis M., Ji, Shu-An, Habib, Michael, Turner, Alan H., Chinsamy, Anusuya, Liu, Xueling, Han, Lizhuo·2014·Nature Communications

DOI 10.1038/ncomms5382

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Abstract

Microraptorines are a group of predatory dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs with aerodynamic capacity. These close relatives of birds are essential for testing hypotheses explaining the origin and early evolution of avian flight. Here we describe a new 'four-winged' microraptorine, Changyuraptor yangi, from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of China. With tail feathers that are nearly 30 cm long, roughly 30% the length of the skeleton, the new fossil possesses the longest known feathers for any non-avian dinosaur. Furthermore, it is the largest theropod with long, pennaceous feathers attached to the lower hind limbs (that is, 'hindwings'). The lengthy feathered tail of the new fossil provides insight into the flight performance of microraptorines and how they may have maintained aerial competency at larger body sizes. We demonstrate how the low-aspect-ratio tail of the new fossil would have acted as a pitch control structure reducing descent speed and thus playing a key role in landing.

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The basic dromaeosaurid topology is maintained in this study, with unenlagiines and microraptorines at earlier diverging positions and eudromaeosaurians at later diverging ones.
“The basic dromaeosaurid topology is maintained in this study, with unenlagiines and microraptorines at earlier diverging positions ( contra [67]) and eudromaeosaurians at later diverging ones [1, 2, 15, 17, 28, 30, 32].”
From Potential for Powered Flight Neared by Most Close Avialan Relatives, but Few Crossed Its Thresholds (2020) · cites this paper as [15]
The Description reports a monophyletic dromaeosaurid group containing Microraptorinae, and the Phylogenetic analysis says its topology matches Turner et al. Neither passage specifies the claimed earlier-diverging positions of unenlagiines and microraptorines relative to later-diverging eudromaeosaurians. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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Authors: Han, G., Chiappe, L. M., Ji, S.-A., Habib, M., Turner, A. H., Chinsamy, A., Liu, X., & Han, L.
Affiliations: Bohai University (CN)
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (US)
University of Southern California (US)
Stony Brook University (US)
University of Cape Town (ZA)
Corresponding author: Chiappe, Luis M.
ORCID: Han, Gang
Chiappe, Luis M.
Habib, Michael
Turner, Alan H.
Chinsamy, Anusuya
Venue: Nature Communications
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published: 2014-07-15
Volume: 5
Issue: 1
Pages: 4382-4382
ISSN: 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5382
OpenAlex: W2014273751
Cited by: 90
References: 35
Citations by year: 2026: 8 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 2
FWCI: 6.80
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: bronze
doi.org
Licence: www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/text-and-data-mining (tdm)
www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/text-and-data-mining (vor)
Locations: Nature Communications (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders: National Research Foundation
National Natural Science Foundation of China (41372026)
China Geological Survey
Topics: Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Fossil Insects in Amber
Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
Keywords: dromaeosaurids, feathered dinosaurs, hind wing, flight performance, Jehol Biota, Lower Cretaceous, landing
MeSH terms: Animals, Feathers, Flight, Animal, Fossils, Dinosaurs

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A new raptorial dinosaur with exceptionally long feathering provides insights into dromaeosaurid flight performance

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