Flying dinos had bi-plane design

The first flying dinosaurs took to the air in a similar way to a World War I bi-plane, a study shows. A fresh analysis of an early feathered fossil dinosaur suggests that it dropped its hind legs below its body, adopting a bi-plane-like form. This contrasts with earlier reconstructions showing the dinosaur maintaining its wings in a tandem pattern, a bit like a dragonfly. Details appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. The ancestors of modern birds are thought to have been small, feathered, dinosaurs. Microraptor gui, which lived 125 million years ago, was one of the earliest gliders. It appears to have utilised four wings, as it had long and asymmetric flight feathers on both its hands and feet. An initial assessment of Microraptor fossils from China suggested the animal spread its legs out laterally and maintained its wings in a tandem pattern, in a similar manner to dragonflies. Now, researchers Sankar Chatterjee and R Jack Templin offer an alternative hypothesis. Their evaluations of the limb joints and feather orientation indicate that a tandem wing design would neither have achieved suitable lift, nor enabled Microraptor to walk on the ground easily. Instead, the scientists report that its hind legs were positioned below the body, in a bi-plane fashion. Dr Chatterjee, from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, US, explained that two lines of evidence had led the team to this conclusion. View: Full Article | Source: BBC News