It's actually not when you consider that there were dinosaurs that glided. Microraptor (pictured above) for example turns out to have had wings not only on its forearms but on its hind limbs.
But the mix of modern bird features and reptilian features that we find in many dinosaur fossils is undeniable.
We've also got very dinosaur-like flightless birds. Cool fact, the ostrich, cassowary and emu all have dinosaur-like claws on their wings (also pictured above).
[quote] it wasn't a dinosaur at all probably, but a bird![/quote]
I think this would be a hard point to communicate to you without some level of expertise in morphology and taxonomy.
To put it simply: In this fossil and others there are a number of features which do not exist in modern birds but which are characteristic of dinosaurs: A toothy skull with a reptilian snout, a long bony tail and strong claws on the forearms to name a few obvious ones.
There is no argument among paleontologists about where this animal is nested in the phylogeny. But just to assure you that this is not just a blind closing of ranks, there are indeed debates about where other animals fall (eg> archaeopteryx). So when i tell you that this microraptor is indeed a dinosaur, unless you're a paleontologist you should probably just take their word for it.
Well i mean not if you want to devote a great deal of time to really gaining an expertise in the field.
That's certainly the most skeptically responsible thing you could do! But if you're like me then you mostly rely on the expertise of experts for matters with which you lack training.
All i was trying to do was to communicate that the dinosaurhood of this animal is not in question by those people whose life's work it is to determine such things. You're certainly welcome to do your own study on the matter🙂.
