Kat sends along this very cool BBC story:
An initial assessment of Microraptor fossils from China suggested the animal spread its legs out laterally and maintained its wings in a tandem pattern, in a similar manner to dragonflies.
Now, researchers Sankar Chatterjee and R Jack Templin offer an alternative hypothesis.
Their evaluations of the limb joints and feather orientation indicate that a tandem wing design would neither have achieved suitable lift, nor enabled Microraptor to walk on the ground easily.
Instead, the scientists report that its hind legs were positioned below the body, in a bi-plane fashion.
Every time I think I’m as impressed with biotic diversity as I can be, life comes along and whomps me upside the head.
Posted by: Chris Clarke
Categories:
Paleontology
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