Paleontology. Tiny, feathered dino is most birdlike yet.
Chinese paleontologists studying the fossil known as Microraptor describe it as both the smallest and the most birdlike dinosaur yet discovered. In this week's issue of Nature, they say the crow-sized, feathered creature--whose fossilized tail once formed part of a now-discredited "missing link" between birds and dinosaurs known as Archaeoraptor--belongs to the dromaeosaurs, dinosaurs that many paleontologists consider the closest dinosaurian relatives of birds.
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D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D002681:China; D005241:Feathers / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005528:Foot / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005580:Fossils; D008124:Locomotion; D012104:Reptiles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D013623:Tail / Q000033:anatomy & histology