4. Microraptor
Most dinosaur-lovers probably know a bit about Archeopteryx already. For those that don’t, here’s the skinny: Archeopteryx was a small, crow-sized dinosaur with distinctly avian feathers on its wings and tail. It is often cited as a missing link between dinosaurs and modern-day birds. Now that we know, there are plenty of feathered dinosaurs known to science, including Microraptor gui.
Microraptor has some of the most intriguing plumage found on any dinosaur. Archeopteryx had feathers on its arms and tail, but Microraptor had it beat by having feathers on its legs. These weren’t just any feathers, either – they were fully-formed wings!
Studies have been done on how, or if, Microraptor could actually fly. It really depends on how well Microraptor could do the splits: if it could spread its legs out like those of a flying squirrel, its gliding surface would be huge. If it couldn’t, however, those wings would do little more than provide drag in the air. So, according to science, those extra wings didn’t do Microraptor much good.