Four-winged dinosaurs from China

Nature. 2003 Jan 23;421(6921):335-40. doi: 10.1038/nature01342.

Abstract

Although the dinosaurian hypothesis of bird origins is widely accepted, debate remains about how the ancestor of birds first learned to fly. Here we provide new evidence suggesting that basal dromaeosaurid dinosaurs were four-winged animals and probably could glide, representing an intermediate stage towards the active, flapping-flight stage. The new discovery conforms to the predictions of early hypotheses that proavians passed through a tetrapteryx stage.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biological Evolution*
  • Birds / anatomy & histology*
  • Birds / classification
  • Birds / physiology
  • China
  • Dinosaurs / anatomy & histology*
  • Dinosaurs / classification
  • Dinosaurs / physiology
  • Feathers / anatomy & histology
  • Feathers / physiology
  • Flight, Animal*
  • Fossils*
  • Models, Biological
  • Wings, Animal / anatomy & histology*
  • Wings, Animal / physiology