We agree that a strict biomechanical analysis is needed to reconstruct Microraptor's locomotory mode, but we disagree with several of Padian and Dial's arguments¹. In addition to the six Microraptor specimens we described², other similarly preserved specimens³ have been discovered that also had long, asymmetrical pennaceous feathers attached to the hindlimbs². These feathers show features that are functionally correlated with flight⁴. A large, feathery surface on the legs would increase, rather than decrease¹, drag during running, as evidenced by the reduced or lost filamentous integumentary structures on the lower legs of cursorial birds and mammals.

1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PO Box 643, Beijing 100044, China
2. Present address: American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024, USA
3. Tianjin Museum of Natural History, Tianjin 300074, China
4. Radiological Department, People's Hospital, Beijing University, Beijing 100044, China

Correspondence to: Email: xu@amnh.org or Email: xing_xu@sina.com

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