Microraptor

Microraptor is a genus of small, four-winged paravian dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovered from Liaoning, China. They date from the early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation (Aptian stage), 120 million years ago. Three species have been named (M. zhaoianus, M. gui, and M. hanqingi), though further study has suggested that all of them represent variation in a single species, which is properly called M. zhaoianus. Cryptovolans, initially described as another four-winged dinosaur, is usually considered to be a synonym of Microraptor.

Like Archaeopteryx, well-preserved fossils of Microraptor provide important evidence about the evolutionary relationship between birds and dinosaurs. Microraptor had long pennaceous feathers that formed aerodynamic surfaces on the arms and tail but also on the legs. This led paleontologist Xu Xing in 2003 to describe the first specimen to preserve this feature as a "four-winged dinosaur" and to speculate that it may have glided using all four limbs for lift. Subsequent studies have suggested that Microraptor was capable of powered flight as well.

Microraptor was among the most abundant non-avian dinosaurs in its ecosystem, and the genus is represented by more fossils than any other dromaeosaurid, with possibly over 300 fossil specimens represented across various museum collections.

During the third episode of Prehistoric Park, Nigel tries to capture one of these odd dinosaurs. What made these dinosaurs so odd is that it seemed to have four wings. Its first pair of wings are actually arms and the second pair is legs. It is closely related to animals like Velociraptor and Deinonychus.

Microraptor lived in dense forests of early Cretaceous China, feeding off grubs, insects and small reptiles it would find on trees, and more rarely on the ground. At the end of the episode Nigel brings back four of these creatures, along with a herd of titanosaurs.

Suzanne McNabb healed one Microraptor that was injured by a panicked Titanosaur at the Cretaceous when the volcano erupts. Nigel goes to his den and his blue-and-yellow macaws were getting along with Nigel's pet Microraptor and Nigel feeds the Microraptor some bird food.

Portrayal in the series
They are shown to be harmless yet illusive gliders that feast on insects left from walking titanosaurs ''(Dinobirds). They are also shown to get along with their modern relatives like macaws (Saving the Sabretooth)''.

Dinobirds
To be added...

Errors

 * Fossilized melanosomes in the feathers of a Microraptor fossil suggest it was completely black in color.
 * Microraptor evolved 5,000,000 years after the episode is set - at that time Mei long and Incisivosaurus became extinct.
 * New evidence showed that Microraptors did not have feather crests like the fossil seemed to show.
 * Evidence shows that Microraptor was, in fact, capable of powered flight, instead of being restricted to gliding.