Microraptorinae

Microraptorinae (also called Microraptoria) is a clade of small, basal dromaeosaurid theropods, best known from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of Liaoning, China, with a few fragmentary members reported later and farther afield, including putative Late Cretaceous forms from North America. Its members were slender, long-limbed carnivores that ranged from some of the smallest known non-bird dinosaurs, such as Microraptor and Zhongjianosaurus, to larger genera like Tianyuraptor and Changyuraptor. The exceptional preservation of the Jehol deposits has captured extensive feathering, and several genera bear long pennaceous feathers on both the arms and legs, earning them the popular label "four-winged dinosaurs." Some, including Microraptor, appear to have used these surfaces to glide or launch from the ground, and perhaps for limited powered flight. Turner and colleagues (2012) recover it within Dromaeosauridae, whereas Senter and colleagues (2004) found it the sister group of Dromaeosauridae.