Richard Dawkins, the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, in his collection of essays entitled A Devil’s Chaplain, writes:
“Modern birds are descended from dinosaurs (or at least from ancestors we would now happily call dinosaurs if only they had gone extinct as decent dinosaurs should).”
Modern birds and dinosaurs share over 90 anatomical features. Since the discovery of Sinosauropteryx in western Liaoning Province, China, cladistic analysis (biological systematic that classifies organisms into hierarchical evolutionary groups) has strengthened the cased for the dinosaur/bird link. A recent exhibit on dinosaurs at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry included one display of flying dinosaurs.
![photo DSCN1603_zps572184b2.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1603_zps572184b2.jpg)
Confuciusornis:
![photo DSCN1605_zpsc3cc5b41.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1605_zpsc3cc5b41.jpg)
![photo DSCN1606_zpseea7cf49.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1606_zpseea7cf49.jpg)
![photo DSCN1613_zps33ec71fc.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1613_zps33ec71fc.jpg)
![photo DSCN1707_zps62f6a50d.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1707_zps62f6a50d.jpg)
Confuciusornis lived in China during the Early Cretaceous (125 million years ago). Like modern birds it had a toothless beak.
Sinosauropteryx:
![photo DSCN1604_zps0b38b09c.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1604_zps0b38b09c.jpg)
Also known as the Chinese Winged Lizard this animal lived in China during the Early Cretaceous (125 million years ago). This was the first feathered dinosaur fossil found by paleontologists. In 2009, scientists discovered the Sinosaurpteryx had a rusty orange and white-ringed tail.
Angustinaripterus:
![photo DSCN1607_zps3c933029.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1607_zps3c933029.jpg)
![photo DSCN1699_zpsde8a9ad5.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1699_zpsde8a9ad5.jpg)
With a wingspread of 1.6 meters (5.25 feet) Angustinaripterus lived in China during the Mid-Jurassic (170 million years ago. This was a fish-eating animal.
Microraptor:
![photo DSCN1608_zps87ceb254.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1608_zps87ceb254.jpg)
![photo DSCN1708_zps4fa6a356.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Portland%202014/Flying%20Dino/DSCN1708_zps4fa6a356.jpg)
Microraptor dates to the Early Cretaceous (125 million years ago). This was a four-winged glider which was unable to flap its wings to fly. The fossilized flight feathers of the Microrapter are asymmetric in shape to give lift with the help of airflow.