ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2024
Theropod trackways as indirect evidence of pre-avian aerial behavior.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- A transition toward flightlessness in Mallards, Indian Runner Ducks, and their hybrid offspring.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Deep learning enables automated detection of dinosaur footprints with high accuracy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Quirks of track preservation and formation are more likely than pre-avian flight and ultrafast dinosaurs.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Reply to Falkingham et al.: Trackway shows flap-running in feathered dinosaurs.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
Body fossils set limits on feasible reconstructions of functional capacity and behavior in theropod dinosaurs, but do not document in-life behaviors. In contrast, trace fossils such as footprints preserve in-life behaviors that can potentially test and enhance existing reconstructions. Here, we demonstrate how theropod trackways can be used as indirect evidence of pre-avian aerial behavior, expanding the approaches available to study vertebrate flight origins. This involved exploring the behavioral implications of a two-toed Cretaceous-aged theropod trackway produced by a small, bird-like microraptorine moving at high speed. Applying first principle running biomechanics, we were able to conclude that the trackway is atypical, indirectly evidencing pre-avian aerial behavior. This trackway documents the evidence of wing-assisted aerodynamic force production during locomotion, supporting a broader distribution of this behavior than currently known. These findings support previously proposed aerial behavior in early bird-like theropods, showing how trackways will help to deepen our understanding of theropod flight origins.
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