Pedopenna daohugouensis is the first feathered Jurassic maniraptoran dinosaur from China. It has long pennaceous feathers on the feet. This suggests that such morphology might represent a primitive adaptation close to the theropod–bird transition, and provides strong evidence in support of the arboreal–gliding hypothesis for the origin of bird flight.

The holotype of Pedopenna daohugouensis (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology, Beijing V12721): photograph (a) and line-drawing (b) of the partial leg and associated feathers, photograph (c) and line-drawing (d) of the feathers attached to the distal metatarsals showing the rachis and the parallel barbs. Inset in b indicates the positions of c and d. Scale bar=10 mm. (after Xu and Zhang, 2005).