KU News Release

PBS program ‘NOVA’ to feature KU paleontologists

LAWRENCE — Instead of debating the childhood riddle about whether the chicken or the egg came first, the real question to ask is whether dinosaurs came first — or birds.

Researchers determined how to build muscle onto the cast bones based on muscle scars that were revealed through the casting process. Feathers were patterned in the positions recorded by the original fossil. See video and photos on the project

At the University of Kansas, that question has landed paleontologists in the midst of a scientific debate and the focus of an upcoming episode of the nationwide public television program “NOVA.”

Scheduled to air on Tuesday, Feb. 26, the “NOVA” episode “The Four-Winged Dinosaur” explores what makes the theories about avian evolution so complicated. It prominently features the work of KU researchers Larry D. Martin, professor and curator of paleontology, and David Burnham, dinosaur preparator, and the model they created of a microraptor, a four-winged animal about the size of a goose.

In part, the debate hinges on whether evidence supports the theory that animals developed flight as ground-dwelling animals, as the majority of paleontologists assert. Martin and Burnham theorize that flight originated above, in the trees. Such animals would have been gliders, and they said the fossil of a microraptor — now on loan to KU from China — supports their theory.

The microraptor, first discovered by Chinese farmers in 2000, has four wings, two on its “arms” like a bird and two for its legs. Volcanic ash preserved the specimen exceptionally, including feathers.

“We say that microraptor is a bird,” Burnham said. “Partly that’s based on long flight feathers on the middle finger of the hand. It’s also based on posture — dinosaurs were upright, but this fossil has back legs and long flight feathers that sprawl out.”

Additionally, its curvy claws and long feathers would have made it unable to run on the ground, Burnham said.

Although Martin and Burnham could have used expensive computer models to test their theory, they chose to create a model of the actual animal using a unique process. They made a rubber mold of both sides of the actual fossil. Plastic poured into the mold helped them recreate the bones and fit them together, which they then developed into a three-dimensional, muscled model. The process revealed bird characteristics in the hand, wrist and hip and helped them determine where muscle would have connected to bone.

Eventually, they created wings and feathers based on the fossil’s feathers. With the advice of animal flight expert David Alexander, assistant professor of biology, they conducted test flights of the model on the KU campus. The flights helped them demonstrate how a four-winged glider actually worked.

The next step for Martin and Burnham will be to write a comprehensive paper about their methods and theories to submit to a peer-reviewed journal. It’s unlikely that will end the debate, Martin said.

“When you question the theory that birds descended from dinosaurs, it’s like you are insulting someone’s mother,” Martin said. “People believe very strongly that the evidence supports their perspective.”

-30-

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.