Editing Microraptor (section)

==Description==
[[File:Microraptor scale.png|thumb|left|Wingspan and body size compared with a human]]
''Microraptor'' was among the [[Dinosaur size|smallest-known non-avian dinosaurs]], with the holotype of ''M. gui'' measuring {{convert|77|cm|ft}} in length, {{convert|88|-|94|cm|ft}} in wingspan and weighing {{convert|0.5|-|1.4|kg}}.<ref name="chatterjee2007"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Xu |first1= Xing|last2=Qin|first2=Zi-Chuan|year=2017|title=A new tiny dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning and niche differentiation among the Jehol dromaeosaurids|journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica|volume=55|issue=2|pages=129–144|url=http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/pressonline/201704/P020170410587218147108.pdf|s2cid=44178386}}</ref><ref name=D20/> There are larger specimens which would have measured at least {{convert|80|cm|ft}} in length, more than {{convert|99|cm|ft}} in wingspan and weighed {{convert|1.25|-|1.88|kg}}.<ref name=D20/>{{efn|The wingspan estimate is based on the equation presented in the study by Dececchi ''et al.'' (2016) which states that the wingspan of the paravians in the study would have been 2.1 times the wing length.<ref name=Dececchi_etal_2016/> In case of ''Microraptor'', the holotype had a wing length of {{convert|42|cm|ft}}, resulting in a wingspan of more than {{convert|88|cm|ft}}. The larger specimen QV1002 measured {{convert|3|cm|in}} longer than the holotype in precaudal length, and had wing length of {{convert|47.2|cm|ft}}, resulting in a wingspan of more than {{convert|99|cm|ft}}.<ref name=D20/>}} Aside from their extremely small size, ''Microraptor'' were among the first non-[[Avialae|avialan]] dinosaurs discovered with the impressions of feathers and wings. Seven specimens of ''M. zhaoianus'' have been described in detail, from which most feather impressions are known. Unusual even among early birds and feathered dinosaurs, ''Microraptor'' is one of the few known bird precursors to sport long flight feathers on the legs as well as the wings. Their bodies had a thick covering of feathers, with a diamond-shaped fan on the end of the tail (possibly for added stability during flight). Xu ''et al.'' (2003) compared the longer plumes on ''Microraptor''{{'}}s head to those of the [[Philippine eagle]]. Bands of dark and light present on some specimens may indicate color patterns present in life,<ref name="hwangetal2002"/> though at least some individuals almost certainly possessed an iridescent black coloration.<ref name="iridescence"/>

===Distinguishing anatomical features===
A diagnosis is a statement of the anatomical features of an organism (or group) that collectively distinguish it from all other organisms. Some, but not all, of the features in a diagnosis are also autapomorphies. An autapomorphy is a distinctive anatomical feature that is unique to a given organism. Several anatomical features found in ''Microraptor'', such as a combination of unserrated and partially serrated teeth with constricted 'waists', and unusually long upper arm bones, are shared with both primitive avians and primitive [[Troodontidae|troodontids]]. ''Microraptor'' is particularly similar to the basal troodontid ''[[Sinovenator]]''; in their 2002 description of two ''M. zhaoianus'' specimens, Hwang ''et al.'' note that this is not particularly surprising, given that both ''Microraptor'' and ''Sinovenator'' are very primitive members of two closely related groups, and both are close to the [[Dromaeosauridae|deinonychosaurian]] split between dromaeosaurids and troodontids.<ref name="hwangetal2002">Hwang, S.H., Norell, M.A., Ji, Q., and Gao, K. (2002). "New Specimens of ''Microraptor zhaoianus'' (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae) from Northeastern China." ''American Museum Novitates'', 3381: 44pp.</ref>

===Coloration===
[[File:Microraptor Restoration.png|thumb|[[Paleoart|Restoration]] of ''M. gui'' with coloration based on fossilized melanosomes]]
In March 2012, Quanguo Li ''et al.'' determined the plumage coloration of ''Microraptor'' based on the new specimen BMNHC PH881, which also showed several other features previously unknown in ''Microraptor''. By analyzing the fossilized melanosomes (pigment cells) in the fossil with [[scanning electron microscope]] techniques, the researchers compared their arrangements to those of modern birds. In ''Microraptor'', these cells were shaped in a manner consistent with black, glossy coloration in modern birds. These rod-shaped, narrow melanosomes were arranged in stacked layers, much like those of a modern [[Common starling|starling]], and indicated [[iridescence]] in the plumage of ''Microraptor''. Though the researchers state that the true function of the iridescence is yet unknown, it has been suggested that the tiny dromaeosaur was using its glossy coat as a form of communication or sexual display, much as in modern iridescent birds.<ref name="iridescence">{{cite journal| last1 = Li| first1 = Q. | last2 = Gao | first2 = K.-Q. | last3 = Meng | first3 = Q. | last4 = Clarke | first4 = J.A. | last5 = Shawkey | first5 = M.D. | last6 = D'Alba | first6 = L. | last7 = Pei | first7 = R. | last8 = Ellision | first8 = M. | last9 = Norell | first9 = M.A. | last10 = Vinther | first10 = J.| title = Reconstruction of ''Microraptor'' and the Evolution of Iridescent Plumage| journal = Science| volume = 335| pages = 1215–1219| date = 2012| doi = 10.1126/science.1213780| pmid=22403389 | issue = 6073| bibcode = 2012Sci...335.1215L| s2cid = 206537426 }}</ref><ref name="iridescence2">{{cite news| last = Wilford| first = John Noble| title = Feathers Worth a 2nd Look Found on a Tiny Dinosaur| newspaper = The New York Times| location = New York| date = 8 March 2012| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/science/feather-cells-tell-of-microraptors-crowlike-sheen.html| access-date = 22 April 2012}}</ref>