Recently, two KU researchers appeared on the PBS television program “NOVA” to discuss the hot topic among paleontologists – avian evolution and the development of ground-dwelling animals into, essentially, birds.

Larry Martin, professor of paleontology and senior curator at the Natural History Museum, and David Burnham, dinosaur preparator, study the theories of avian evolution with dinosaurs over time, but were specifically interested in the development of flight.

“People believe very strongly that the evidence supports their perspective,” Martin said.

Although the majority of paleontologists assert that animals developed flight as ground-dwelling animals, Martin and Burnham’s theory suggests that flight actually originated in the trees and they are using an ancient fossil of a creature called a microraptor, discovered in China by farmers in 2000, to support their side of the argument.

Martin and Burnham call the microraptor a bird, due to long flight feathers found on the middle finger of the hand that were preserved with the skeleton of the creature by volcanic ash. The posture of the microraptor is separate from other upright dinosaurs also, as it possesses back legs and long flight feathers that sprawl out which also suggest it would have been unable to run on the ground.

The fossil of the microraptor is on loan to KU from China, and Martin and Burnham decided on creating a model of the animal to test their theory instead of constructing a computer simulation of its movement. With help from KU’s animal flight expert David Alexander and a particularly unique process of model construction, the researchers conducted test flights of the model on the KU campus. The four-winged glider demonstrated how the animal’s movement and genetic attributes further support the theories of Martin and Burnham.

“When you question the theory that birds descended from dinosaurs, it’s like you are insulting someone’s mother,” Martin said about stirring up the debate.

Even so, the two researchers will submit a comprehensive paper about their methods and theories to a peer-reviewed journal to conclude their quest for answers in the on-going dinosaur debate.

For more information including photos and video of a Microrapter model in flight, visit the KU Web site.