Our earliest mammalian ancestors avoided the dominant dinosaurs by only coming out at night and having uniformly dark, grey-brown fur for camouflage.

Like its non-flying close relatives, Microraptor had elongated bones lining the top and underside of its tail, forming a stiff counterbalance that allowed the animal to keep its center of gravity ...

With its four wings and a long, bony tail, Microraptor was unlike any bird alive today. This is because it was a dinosaur—one that evolved long after the first known bird, Archaeopteryx ...