News Paleontology

If wings came before flight, what were they for?

Simulated dinosaurs suggest early wings helped hunt prey

An artist's reconstruction of a dinosaur with wings using them to hunt insects

An artist’s reconstruction shows dinosaurs displaying their feathers and tails to flush insects out into the open. Simulated versions of the dinosaurs hint that the feathers were for show before they were for flight.

Choi Yu-sik, J. Park et al/bioRxiv 2026

By Lily Burton

Flight may be one of evolution’s most iconic innovations, but zoologist Piotr Jablonski is convinced that early wings were first meant to be seen, not to fly.