NOTE: This is an outdated rendition of
Microraptor which has since been corrected:
[link]2011, acrylics, photography & digital
120 million years ago, Early Cretaceous (Aptian), Jiufotang Formation, Liaoning, China
In the branches of a gingko, the 4-winged dromaeosaur
Microraptor gui pounces on an enantiornithine bird (
Sinornis santensis). Briefly losing balance as it clutches the screeching avian, the dinosaur feels around with it's clawed foot to gain a secure purchase before finishing off it's victim with a bite to the head.
A fossil skeleton of
Microraptor (one half of which is right now sitting next to my aquarium across from my desk, the counterpart is on the windowsill) was described in 2011 showing the partially arcticulated remains of a tree-dwelling enantiornithine in it's tummy. This not only provided direct evidence of Micro's predatory habits, but was viewed as corroborating the idea of an arboreal lifestyle for this dinosaur.
Artwork originally published in: O’Connor, Zhou & Xu. 2011. Additional specimen of Microraptor provides unique evidence of dinosaurs preying on birds. PNAS
[link]
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Sta.sh
I guess I wasn't too positive with my first comment, and to fix that, I'd like to say that I really like the pose you chose, and also the truly exquisite detail in the feathers!
I can't even imagine how much time it swallowed to get all those little details and patterns in place!
So when you said that your Micro "has a MUCH bigger head relative to body size than the other c.90% of...specimens", did you mean that only 10 of the 250+ specimens have been described, or am I just bad at math?
"Microraptor probably didn't live at the same time as Sinornithosaurus or Xianglong (Micro is Jiufotang Fm - the other two are from the earlier Yixian)."
So I've heard. I was just using PD as a visual aid for what I meant.
"Against an agile powered flyer like a true-bird, Micro is unlikely to win an aerial engagement so the dramatic attack method depicted against the lizard isn't likely to work in this case."
I was referring more to 0:24 of the video (when Micro ambushes Xianglong on the branch) then the gliding chase scene.
"Micro also has whopping great big feathers extending all the way down to the feet (unlike the PD depiction of Sinornithosaurus) so I definately do not see it duplicating Sino's attack - CGI feathers on a bare CGI tree may not get snagged but in the real world..."
Any idea if attacking ground-feeding birds Pouncing Proavis-style would've been possible for Micro?
I meant of the 30-odd specimens I've seen... well, of the 30-odd that have skulls.
>Any idea if attacking ground-feeding birds Pouncing Proavis-style would've been possible for Micro?
Plausible - it's likely that some of the Jehol ornithurines were ground birds - but the whole point of the research paper was to plug arboreal hunting of an arboreal enantiornithine so I was kinda shackled with the setting.
Not necessarily. "Small to medium-sized birds with moderately long, strong legs and large, strong feet. Arboreal or terrestrial, most feed on the ground" (See the highlighted paragraph: [link] ).