The Extent of the Preserved Feathers on the Four-Winged Dinosaur Microraptor gui under Ultraviolet Light
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: The holotype of the theropod non-avian dinosaur Microraptor gui from the Early Cretaceous of China shows extensive preservation of feathers in a halo around the body and with flight feathers associated with both the fore and hindlimbs. It has been questioned as to whether or not the feathers did extend into the halo to reach the body, or had disassociated and moved before preservation. This taxon has important implications for the origin of flight in birds and the possibility of a four-winged gliding phase. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Examination of the specimen under ultraviolet light reveals that these feathers actually reach the body of the animal and were not disassociated from the bones. Instead they may have been chemically altered by the body tissues of the animal meaning that they did not carbonise close into the animal or more likely were covered by other decaying tissue, though evidence of their presence remains. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These UV images show that the feathers preserved on the slab are genuinely associated with the skeleton and that their arrangement and orientation is likely correct. The methods used here to reveal hidden features of the specimen may be applicable to other specimens from the fossil beds of Liaoning that produced Microraptor.
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In a crouching position, the metatarsal feathers of non-avian paravians would be in constant contact with the surface and at risk of being damaged and interfering with arboreal locomotion.
“In this position, the metatarsal feathers of non-avian paravians (some over twice the length of the metatarsus [101]) would be in constant contact with the surface and at risk of being damaged and interfering with arboreal locomotion if the metatarsus was held at any angle less than upright.”
From Assessing Arboreal Adaptations of Bird Antecedents: Testing the Ecological Setting of the Origin of the Avian Flight Stroke (2011) · cites this paper as [101]
The Discussion (Table 1; page not available in our copy) reports a longest metatarsal feather of 149 mm in Microraptor gui, supporting the cited point that these feathers were long. It does not give a metatarsus length to establish the specific ‘over twice’ ratio. The surface-contact and arboreal-locomotion consequences are the citing authors’ inference, not the part to which this citation is attached. (LLM, conf=0.78)
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References 34 · Cited by 56
Research works printed but not linked: 16
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- Authors
- Hone, D. W. E., Tischlinger, H., Xu, X., & Zhang, F.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Hone, David W. E.
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2010-02-15
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- e9223
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2821398
- OpenAlex
- W2066966127
- Cited by
- 56
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- 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
- theropod dinosaurs, ultraviolet imaging, holotype, origin of flight, Lower Cretaceous
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Birds, China, Biological Evolution, Feathers, Flight, Animal, Forelimb, Fossils, Hindlimb, Paleontology, Sternum, Technology, Radiologic, Ultraviolet Rays, Wings, Animal, Dinosaurs
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