title: Piscivory in the feathered dinosaur Microraptor.
abstract: The largest specimen of the four-winged dromaeosaurid dinosaur Microraptor gui includes preserved gut contents. Previous reports of gut contents and considerations of functional morphology have indicated that Microraptor hunted in an arboreal environment. The new specimen demonstrates that this was not strictly the case, and offers unique insights into the ecology of nonavian dinosaurs early in the evolution of flight. The preserved gut contents are composed of teleost fish remains. Several morphological adaptations of Microraptor are identified as consistent with a partially piscivorous diet, including dentition with reduced serrations and forward projecting teeth on the anterior of the dentary. The feeding habits of Microraptor can now be understood better than that of any other carnivorous nonavian dinosaur, and Microraptor appears to have been an opportunistic and generalist feeder, able to exploit the most common prey in both the arboreal and aquatic microhabitats of the Early Cretaceous Jehol ecosystem.
authors.affiliation: School of the Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China.
authors.forename: Lida
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: W Scott
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Persons
authors.forename: Phil R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tetsuto
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyashita
authors.forename: Fengping
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Currie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005241:Feathers / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005580:Fossils
keywords: Avian evolution; dinosaurs; fossil gut contents; paleoecology; paleontology; piscivory