Editing Microraptor (section)

===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>