Most famously, feathers allowed early birds and related dinosaurs like Microraptor to take to the air. But paleontologists have also found feathers and related structures on many other dinosaurs ...

Like its non-flying close relatives, Microraptor had elongated bones lining the top and underside of its tail, forming a stiff counterbalance that allowed the animal to keep its center of gravity ...

and Microraptor. The region where they were found is where the first evidence of some dinosaurs having feathers was uncovered in 1995. ‘It’s one of the richest fossil deposits, in particular ...

Earlier dinosaurs, common ancestors to both Microraptor and Archaeopteryx, had already formed many of the physiological traits needed for getting airborne, such as feathers and light, hollow bones.