News Paleontology

Early birds could achieve liftoff

Gliding from trees wasn’t necessary for flight evolution, analysis suggests

Microraptor

UP, UP AND AWAY  The four-winged dinosaur Microraptor (illustrated) could launch itself into the air and didn’t need to glide from tree to tree, a new fossil analysis suggests.

Durbed/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

By Meghan Rosen

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Paleontology

  1. illustration of a lizard sitting on a branch. shown is its head and neck with sap dripping down around it
    Paleontology

    An ancient creature thought to be a teeny dinosaur turns out to be a lizard

    By Carolyn Gramling
  2. hammerhead shark swimming in the ocean
    Paleontology

    Something mysteriously wiped out about 90 percent of sharks 19 million years ago

    By Carolyn Gramling
  3. head of T. rex fossil
    Paleontology

    T. rex’s incredible biting force came from its stiff lower jaw

    By Sid Perkins
  4. illuistration of a pterosaur with opposable thumbs
    Paleontology

    ‘Monkeydactyl’ may be the oldest known creature with opposable thumbs

    By Maria Temming
  5. tropical rainforest in Colombia
    Paleontology

    The dinosaur-killing asteroid impact radically altered Earth’s tropical forests

    By Carolyn Gramling
  6. reconstruction of an ancient eagle shark
    Paleontology

    An ancient shark’s weird fins helped it glide like a manta ray

    By Carolyn Gramling
  7. illustration of an anteosaur chasing a Moschognathus
    Paleontology

    An ancient hippo-sized reptile may have been surprisingly agile

    By Carolyn Wilke
  8. Muusoctopus johnsonianus octopus on the seafloor
    Paleontology

    Predatory octopuses were drilling into clamshells at least 75 million years ago

    By Carolyn Gramling

From the Nature Index

Paid Content