Microraptor gui
"Gu Zhiwei's small raider"

     In my essay on Cryptovolans, I repeated the theory that the butt-fans on that animal (long feathers stemming from the hind leg) were actually nothing more than long wing feathers overlapping the leg. Boy was I wrong! A newly discovered species of the tiny deinonychosaur Microraptor (a close relative, possibly the same genus as Cryptovolans) shows that, not only did these creatures have long feathers on the leg, but a full-fledged pair of "hind wings". Microraptor and its kin have been dubbed the "screaming dromaeosaur biplane killers of the air", a title that's pretty much self-explanatory. These little predators (smaller species were around 40 centimeters long, half of it tail) were probably tree-dwellers, using their four wings to fly or glide from branch to branch or parachute down to the ground, perhaps onto unsuspecting prey.

     Thanks to several beautifully preserved specimens, this is probably my most accurate drawing to date. Most of Microraptor gui's feathers were preserved in great detail, including its long outer primaries, and the more rounded shape of the primary feathers on the feet and legs. The specimen even preserves a crest of feathers on the head, and another display fan (possibly used to stabilize flight) on the end of the tail. The Microraptor is shown perched on a contemporary Ginko tree, similar to the Ginko species that still exist today. Microraptor, of course, comes from the Chinese Yixian formation of Liaoning, and lived during the Early Cretaceous period.