This is Microraptor in flight. Credit:
Emily Willoughby
A study into the aerodynamic performance of feathered
dinosaurs, by scientists from the University of Southampton, has provided new
insight into the evolution of bird flight.
In recent years, new fossil discoveries have changed our
view of the early evolution of birds and, more critically, their powers of
flight. We now know about a number of small-bodied dinosaurs that had feathers
on their wings as well as on their legs and tails: completely unique in the fossil
record.