Four-Winged Dinosaur Cousin of Velociraptor Discovered in China

Deep in the fossil beds of China, paleontologists have uncovered a small predator that rewrites a chapter of prehistoric life: a four-winged relative of Velociraptor that glided through ancient forest canopies hunting the earliest birds. Co-discovered by a Carnegie Museum researcher, this microraptorine dinosaur offers rare, well-preserved evidence that gliding was not merely a transitional accident of evolution but a refined and deliberate survival strategy. In the long arc of life's experimentation, this creature reminds us that nature has always found unexpected paths through the air.