Microraptor zhaoianus

My goal is to create a life restoration of this dinosaur, in its natural habitat as it was before the K/Pg boundary (the mass extinction event that is traditionally seen as the extinction of the dinosaurs).

Microraptor was a four-winged dromaeosaur that lived in the Cretaceous period in Northeastern China. It lived around prehistoric lakes in present-day Jinzhou of the Liaoning province.

Traditionally thought to be nocturnal, Microraptor was iridescent-black like a modern day Grackle. This is a hint that it was active in the daytime and not nocturnal , when considering iridescent coloration in living animals.

The raptor is typically articulated with tail, spine, and head along the same horizontal plane , with legs outstretched almost perpendicular to the torso. My restoration deviates from this traditional view, instead I drew the bones in the position of a modern perching bird, because the back-leg wings would be a hindrance on the ground, also, the distal half of Microraptor's tail is also stiff and almost completely fused. In my restoration Microraptor is perched on a Ginkgo biloba (which is present in the fossil record back 270 million years) in a forest of other gymnosperms and some cycads and tree ferns, amidst the morning fog.

This drawing was actually based on the holotype specimen of Microraptor gui, though newer research suggests all specimens are of a single species, zhaoianus.

I have tried to create this according to the newest research, if anyone would like to share other sources to help me improve its accuracy, please do.

Made in Gimp 2.8.0
I created the brush for the Ginkgo leaves from scratch. All other brushes are stock Gimp brushes.