Paleontologists who have studied the new fossils describe Caudipteryx as sitting on a branch of the dinosaur family tree between Velociraptor and Archaeopteryx. It seems feathers are not a distinguishing trait of birds. They first evolved among the dinosaurs. Because the arms of Caudipteryx were two short to use as wings, feathers probably didn't evolve for flight. Instead, they probably served as insulation, much as fur does for mammals.
Flight is something that certain kinds of dinosaurs achieved as they evolved longer arms.
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