Editing Microraptor (section)

===Feeding===
[[File:Microraptor cast in Horniman Museum.jpg|thumb|Cast in [[Horniman Museum]]]]
In 2010 researchers announced that further preparation of the type fossil of ''M. zhaoianus'' revealed preserved probable gut contents, and a full study on them was later published in 2022 by David Hone and colleagues. These consisted of the remains of a mammal, primarily a complete and articulated right foot (including all [[Tarsal bone|tarsals]], [[metatarsals]], and most of the [[phalanges]]) as well as the shafts of additional long bones and potentially other fragments. The foot skeleton is similar to those of ''[[Eomaia]]'' and ''[[Sinodelphys]]''. It corresponds to an animal with an estimated snout to vent length of {{cvt|80|mm}} and a mass of {{cvt|13|–|43|g}}. The unguals of the foot are less curved than in ''Eomaia'' or ''Sinodelphys'', indicating that the mammal could climb but less effectively than in the two latter genera and so was likely not arboreal but potentially scansorial.<ref name="Larsson et al. 2010"/><ref name="Hone22"/>

It is ambiguous whether the mammal had been predated upon or scavenged by the ''Microraptor'', although the lack of other definitive body parts consumed may suggest the low-muscle mass foot may have been eaten during a late stage of carcass consumption, possibly through scavenging. The find is a rare example of a theropod definitively consuming a Mesozoic mammal.<ref name="Larsson et al. 2010">Larsson, Hans, Hone, David, Dececchi, T. Alexander, Sullivan, Corwin, Xu, Xing. "THE WINGED NON-AVIAN DINOSAUR MICRORAPTOR FED ON MAMMALS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE JEHOL BIOTA ECOSYSTEM" "Program and Abstracts. 70th Anniversary Meeting Society of Vertebrate Paleontology October 2010" 114A.</ref><ref name="Hone22">{{Cite journal |last1=Hone |first1=D. W. |last2=Dececchi |first2=T. A. |last3=Sullivan |first3=C. |last4=Xu |first4=X. |last5=Larsson |first5=H. C. |year=2022 |title=Generalist diet of ''Microraptor zhaoianus'' included mammals |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=43 |issue=e2144337 |at=e2144337 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2022.2144337|bibcode=2022JVPal..42E4337H |s2cid=255051527 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/7477141 }}</ref> The only other two examples are the indeterminate [[tyrannosauroid]] specimen GMV 2124 (also known as NGMC 2124) and the holotype of ''[[Huadanosaurus]]'', both of which are previously attributed to ''[[Sinosauropteryx]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Qiu |first1=Rui |last2=Wang |first2=Xiaolin |last3=Jiang |first3=Shunxing |last4=Meng |first4=Jin |last5=Zhou |first5=Zhonghe |date=2025-02-22 |title=Two new compsognathid-like theropods show diversified predation strategies in theropod dinosaurs |journal=National Science Review |volume=12 |issue=5 |pages=nwaf068 |language=en |doi=10.1093/nsr/nwaf068 |issn=2095-5138|doi-access=free |pmid=40191255 |pmc=11970238 }}</ref>

In the December 6, 2011 issue of ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'', Jingmai O'Connor and coauthors described a specimen of ''Microraptor gui'' containing bones of an arboreal [[enantiornithean]] bird in its abdomen, specifically a partial wing and feet. Their position implies the bird was swallowed whole and head-first, which the authors interpreted as implying that the ''Microraptor'' had caught and consumed the bird in the trees, rather than scavenging it.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Jingmai O'Connor |author2=Zhonghe Zhou |author3=Xing Xu |name-list-style=amp |year=2011 |title=Additional specimen of ''Microraptor'' provides unique evidence of dinosaurs preying on birds |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=108 |issue=49 |pages=19662–19665 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1117727108 |pmid=22106278 |pmc=3241752|bibcode=2011PNAS..10819662O |doi-access=free }}</ref>

In 2013 researchers announced that they had found fish scales in the abdominal cavity of another ''M. gui'' specimen.<ref name=Xing13>{{cite journal |author=Lida Xing|year=2013 |title=Piscivory in the feathered dinosaur ''Microraptor'' |journal=Evolution|doi=10.1111/evo.12119|display-authors=etal |volume=67 |issue=8 |pages=2441–2445 |pmid=23888864|s2cid=34471616 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The authors contradicted the prior suggestion that ''M. gui'' hunted only in an arboreal environment, proposing that it was also an adept hunter of fish as well. They further argued that the specimen showed a probable adaptation to a fish-eating diet, pointing to the first three teeth of the mandible being inclined anterodorsally, a characteristic often associated with piscivory.<ref name=Xing13/> They concluded that ''Microraptor'' was an opportunistic feeder, hunting the most common prey in both arboreal and aquatic habitats.<ref name=Xing13/>

Both of these studies regarded each gut contents as instances of predation. However, Hone and colleagues (2022) questioned the reliability of these interpretations and wrote that both could just as equally be attributed to scavenging. Further, they argued against ''Microraptor'' being a specialist in either or both arboreal or aquatic hunting, citing the broad range of vertebrate gut contents (i.e. fish, mammals, lizards, birds) as evidence for a generalist hunting strategy, and that neither required that ''Microraptor'' being a specialist for hunting in either habitats.<ref name="Hone22"/>

In 2019, a new genus of [[scleroglossa]]n [[lizard]] (''[[Indrasaurus]]'') was described from a specimen found in the stomach of a ''Microraptor''. The ''Microraptor'' apparently swallowed its prey head first, a behavior typical of modern [[Carnivore|carnivorous]] [[bird]]s and lizards. The ''Indrasaurus'' bones lacked marked pitting and scarring, indicating that the ''Microraptor'' died shortly after eating the lizard and before significant digestion had occurred.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Zhou|first1=Zhonghe|last2=Zhang|first2=Xiaomei|last3=Wang|first3=Yan|last4=Wang|first4=Xiaoli|last5=Dong|first5=Liping|last6=Zheng|first6=Xiaoting|last7=O’Connor|first7=Jingmai|date=2019-07-11|title=Microraptor with Ingested Lizard Suggests Non-specialized Digestive Function|journal=Current Biology|volume=29|language=en|issue=14|pages=2423–2429.e2|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.020|issn=0960-9822|pmid=31303494|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019CBio...29E2423O }}</ref>

Unlike its fellow [[Paraves|paravian]] ''[[Anchiornis]]'', ''Microraptor'' has never been found with [[Pellet (ornithology)|gastric pellets]], despite the existence of four ''Microraptor'' specimens that preserve stomach contents. This suggests that ''Microraptor'' passed indigestible fur, feathers, and bits of bone in its droppings instead of producing pellets.<ref name=":0" />

Based on the size of the [[Sclerotic ring|scleral ring]] of the eye, it has been suggested ''Microraptor'' hunted at night.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Nocturnality in dinosaurs inferred from scleral ring and orbit morphology|vauthors=Schmitz L, Motani R | journal=Science| year=2011| doi=10.1126/science.1200043| pmid=21493820| volume=332 | issue=6030 | pages=705–8| bibcode=2011Sci...332..705S|s2cid=33253407 }}</ref> However, the discovery of iridescent plumage in ''Microraptor'' has cast doubt on this conclusion, as no modern birds that have iridescent plumage are known to be nocturnal.<ref name="iridescence"/>