Editing Microraptor (section)

===Additional specimens===
[[File:Microraptor Skeletons by Qilong.jpg|thumb|Skeletal restorations of various specimens]]
The first specimen referred to ''Microraptor'' represented a small individual and included faint feather remnants, but was otherwise not well preserved and lacked a skull.
In 2002 [[Mark Norell]] et al. described another specimen, BPM 1 3-13, which they did not name or refer to an existing species.<ref name="norelletal02">Norell, Mark, Ji, Qiang, Gao, Keqin, Yuan, Chongxi, Zhao, Yibin, Wang, Lixia. (2002). "'Modern' feathers on a non-avian dinosaur". ''Nature'', 416: pp. 36. 7 March 2002.></ref> Later that year [[Stephen A. Czerkas|Stephen Czerkas]] et al. named the specimen ''Cryptovolans pauli'', and referred two additional specimens (the first to show well-preserved feathers) to this species. The generic name was derived from Greek ''kryptos'', "hidden", and [[Latin]] ''volans'', "flying". The [[specific name (zoology)|specific name]], ''pauli'', honors [[Paleontology|paleontologist]] [[Gregory S. Paul]], who had long proposed that dromaeosaurids evolved from flying ancestors.<ref name="Czerkas2002"/>

The [[type specimen]]s of ''C. pauli'' were collected from the [[Jiufotang Formation]], dating from the early [[Albian]] and now belong to the collection of the Paleontology Museum of Beipiao, in [[Liaoning]], China. They are referred to by the inventory numbers LPM 0200, the [[holotype]]; LPM 0201, its counterslab (slab and counterslab together represent the earlier BPM 1 3-13); and the [[paratype]] LPM 0159, a smaller skeleton. Both individuals are preserved as articulated compression fossils; they are reasonably complete but partially damaged.<ref name="Czerkas2002"/>
[[File:Microraptor-Beijing Museum of Natural History.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Specimen at the [[Beijing Museum of Natural History]]]]
Czerkas ''et al.'' (2002) diagnosed the genus on the basis of having primary feathers (which in the authors' opinion made it a [[bird]]), a co-ossified sternum, a tail consisting of 28 to 30 vertebrae and a third finger with a short phalanx III-3.<ref name="Czerkas2002"/> Some of the feathers Czerkas described as primary were actually attached to the leg, rather than the arm. This, along with most of the other diagnostic characters, is also present in the genus ''Microraptor'', which was first described earlier than ''Cryptovolans''.<ref name="Xuetal03">{{cite journal | last1 = Xu | first1 = Xing | last2 = Zhou | first2 = Zhinghe | last3 = Wang | first3 = Xiaolin | last4 = KUang | first4 = Xuewen | last5 = Zhang | first5 = Fucheng | last6 = Du | first6 = Xiangke | year = 2003 | title = Four-winged dinosaurs from China | journal = Nature | volume = 421 | issue = 6921| pages = 335–340 | doi=10.1038/nature01342 | pmid=12540892| bibcode = 2003Natur.421..335X | s2cid = 1160118 | url = http://doc.rero.ch/record/15275/files/PAL_E2574.pdf }}</ref> However, BPM 1 3-13 has a longer tail, proportionately, than other ''Microraptor'' specimens that had been described by 2002, which have 24 to 26 tail vertebrae.<ref name="norelletal02"/>

Subsequent studies (and more specimens of ''Microraptor'') have shown that the features used to distinguish ''Cryptovolans'' are not unique, but are present to varying degrees across various specimens. In a review by Phil Senter and colleagues in 2004, the scientists suggested that all these features represented individual variation across various age groups of a single ''Microraptor'' species, making the name ''Cryptovolans pauli'' and ''Microraptor gui'' junior synonyms of ''Microraptor zhaoianus''.<ref name="senteretal2004"/> Many other researchers, including Alan Feduccia and Tom Holtz, have since supported its synonymy.<ref name="Holtz2008">Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2011) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages,'' [http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/dinoappendix/HoltzappendixWinter2010.pdf Winter 2010 Appendix.]</ref><ref name=FLH05>{{cite journal|last1=Feduccia |first1=A. |year=2005 |title=Do feathered dinosaurs exist? Testing the hypothesis on neontological and paleontological evidence |journal=Journal of Morphology |volume=266 |issue=2 |pages=125–166 |pmid=16217748 |doi=10.1002/jmor.10382|last2=Lingham-Soliar|first2=T|last3=Hinchliffe|first3=JR|s2cid=15079072 }}</ref> ''M. gui'' has been accepted as a distinct species with the specimen reported in 2013 being distinguishable from the type specimen of ''M. zhaoianus''.<ref name=Xing13/>

A new specimen of ''Microraptor'', BMNHC PH881, showed several features previously unknown in the animal, including the probably glossy-black iridescent plumage coloration. The new specimen also featured a bifurcated tailfan, similar in shape to previously known ''Microraptor'' tailfans except sporting a pair of long, narrow feathers at the center of the fan. The new specimen also showed no sign of the nuchal crest, indicating that the crest inferred from the holotype specimen may be an artifact of [[taphonomy|taphonomic]] distortion.<ref name="iridescence"/><ref name="iridescence2"/>

Numerous further specimens likely belonging to ''Microraptor'' have been uncovered, all from the Shangheshou Bed of the [[Jiufotang Formation]] in Liaoning, China. In fact, ''Microraptor'' is the most abundant non-avialan dinosaur fossil type found in this formation.<ref name="xu&norell2006">{{cite journal | last1 = Xu | first1 = X. | last2 = Norell | first2 = M.A. | year = 2006 | title = Non-Avian dinosaur fossils from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning, China | doi = 10.1002/gj.1044 | journal = Geological Journal | volume = 41 | issue = 3–4| pages = 419–437 | bibcode = 2006GeolJ..41..419X | s2cid = 32369205 }}</ref> In 2010, it was reported that there were over 300 undescribed specimens attributable to ''Microraptor'' or its close relatives among the collections of several Chinese museums, though many had been altered or composited by private fossil collectors.<ref name=alexanderetal2010/>