Additional specimen of Microraptor provides unique evidence of dinosaurs preying on birds

2011/11/21 by Jingmai K. O’Connor, Zhonghe Zhou, Xing Xu · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Arboreal locomotion #Biology #Cretaceous #Cursorial #Ecology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Habitat #Ichthyology and Marine Biology #Mesozoic #Paleontology #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Predation #Yixian Formation #Zoology

paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.1117727108

openalex publication_date 2011/11/21 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

Preserved indicators of diet are extremely rare in the fossil record; even more so is unequivocal direct evidence for predator-prey relationships. Here, we report on a unique specimen of the small nonavian theropod Microraptor gui from the Early Cretaceous Jehol biota, China, which has the remains of an adult enantiornithine bird preserved in its abdomen, most likely not scavenged, but captured and consumed by the dinosaur. We provide direct evidence for the dietary preferences of Microraptor and a nonavian dinosaur feeding on a bird. Further, because Jehol enantiornithines were distinctly arboreal, in contrast to their cursorial ornithurine counterparts, this fossil suggests that Microraptor hunted in trees thereby supporting inferences that this taxon was also an arborealist, and provides further support for the arboreality of basal dromaeosaurids.

Citations

• A king-sized theropod coprolite
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• Four-winged dinosaurs from China
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• A reappraisal ofBoluochia zhengi(Aves: Enantiornithes) and a discussion of intraclade diversity in the Jehol avifauna, China
• An Early Cretaceous bird from Spain and its implications for the evolution of avian flight
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• A reassessment of Sinornis santensis and Cathayornis yandica (Aves: Enantiornithes). In Proceedings of the VII International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, ed. W.E. Boles and T.H. Worthy
• Model tests of gliding with different hindwing configurations in the four-winged dromaeosaurid Microraptor gui
• Herbivorous ecomorphology and specialization patterns in theropod dinosaur evolution
• Biplane wing planform and flight performance of the feathered dinosaur Microraptor gui
• Mesozoic avian bone microstructure: physiological implications
• Prey selection by sparrowhawks, Accipiter nisus : relative predation risk for breeding passerine birds in relation to their size, ecology and behaviour

Cited by

• The Jehol Biota, an Early Cretaceous terrestrial Lagerstätte: new discoveries and implications
• Microraptor [wikipedia]

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