Here we describe a fossil of an enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous period in
China that has substantial plumage feathers attached to its upper leg (tibiotarsus). The
discovery could be important in view of the relative length and aerodynamic features of
these leg feathers compared with those of the small 'four-winged'gliding dinosaur
Microraptor, and of the earliest known bird, Archaeopteryx,. They may be remnants of earlier
long, aerodynamic leg feathers, in keeping with the hypothesis that birds went through a four�…