21 ms·

Archaeopteryx lived 150 million years ago, the feathers here (and proto-feathers) are from 78 million or 79 million years ago. So these are very modern Dinosa

by sambeau 13y ago

Archaeopteryx lived 150 million years ago, the feathers here (and proto-feathers) are from 78 million or 79 million years ago. So these are very modern Dinosaur feathers or feathers from proto-bird-like creatures. What is interesting here is probably the proto-feathers / fuzz which might shed light on the evolution of feathers and whether late dinosaurs were fuzzy. http://news.sciencemag.org/paleontology/2011/09/dinofuzz-found-canadian-amber http://news.sciencemag.org/paleontology/2011/09/dinofuzz-fou...

einhverfr 13y ago
It now looks like feathered dinosaurs were a lot more common than that though. Virtually all of the raptors (velociraptor, utahraptor, etc) are assumed to be feathered based on fossil evidence today. When I was in grade school the real breakthroughs were in the area of evidence of warm-blooded dinosaurs. More recently though, there have been a lot of breakthroughs suggesting feathers were much earlier than we had previously thought.
- sambeau 13y ago
  Indeed. I think what I was trying to point out is that this doesn't add weight to early dinosaurs being feathered. These feathers are from the same period as Velociraptors. It's cool, its fascinating and it's mind-blowing that some of these feathers could be from Velociraptor-like creatures! It's also great science. But I was guarding against people saying "proven: all dinosaurs had feathers" which is the inevitable route that some of the internet commentary will take.
  - jonnathanson 13y ago
    Velociraptor almost definitely had feathers, as well as wings. In fact, it pretty much was a flightless proto-bird (though scientists believe it may have descended from a flying predecessor). If it were alive today, we'd basically see it as a curiously shaped, medium-to-large land bird with teeth. Check out some of the post-2007 renderings of Velociraptor. My mind was certainly blown, especially after having grown up with the image as portrayed by Jurassic Park. (2007 was when Velociraptor bones were discovered with quill knobs, almost indisputably indicating that the animal had wings and feathers).
  - einhverfr 13y ago
    I wouldn't say that all dinosaurs had features, but a fair number did (and fairly large taxonomical groups!). Where the breakthrough is here is that we have evidence of the sorts of colors. In the past all of our speculation has been that of "artists impressions" but now we have something more tangible to work with.
callmeed 13y ago
Is this why the velociraptors at the San Diego Natural History Museum are fuzzy/furry? [1] My dinosaur knowledge comes from Steven Spielberg so I was a little taken aback when I saw this last month. [1]http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelbwelch/9294262181/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelbwelch/9294262181/

by sambeau 13y ago

einhverfr 13y ago

It now looks like feathered dinosaurs were a lot more common than that though. Virtually all of the raptors (velociraptor, utahraptor, etc) are assumed to be feathered based on fossil evidence today. When I was in grade school the real breakthroughs were in the area of evidence of warm-blooded dinosaurs. More recently though, there have been a lot of breakthroughs suggesting feathers were much earlier than we had previously thought.

sambeau 13y ago
Indeed. I think what I was trying to point out is that this doesn't add weight to early dinosaurs being feathered. These feathers are from the same period as Velociraptors. It's cool, its fascinating and it's mind-blowing that some of these feathers could be from Velociraptor-like creatures! It's also great science. But I was guarding against people saying "proven: all dinosaurs had feathers" which is the inevitable route that some of the internet commentary will take.
- jonnathanson 13y ago
  Velociraptor almost definitely had feathers, as well as wings. In fact, it pretty much was a flightless proto-bird (though scientists believe it may have descended from a flying predecessor). If it were alive today, we'd basically see it as a curiously shaped, medium-to-large land bird with teeth. Check out some of the post-2007 renderings of Velociraptor. My mind was certainly blown, especially after having grown up with the image as portrayed by Jurassic Park. (2007 was when Velociraptor bones were discovered with quill knobs, almost indisputably indicating that the animal had wings and feathers).
- einhverfr 13y ago
  I wouldn't say that all dinosaurs had features, but a fair number did (and fairly large taxonomical groups!). Where the breakthrough is here is that we have evidence of the sorts of colors. In the past all of our speculation has been that of "artists impressions" but now we have something more tangible to work with.

callmeed 13y ago

Is this why the velociraptors at the San Diego Natural History Museum are fuzzy/furry? [1] My dinosaur knowledge comes from Steven Spielberg so I was a little taken aback when I saw this last month. [1]http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelbwelch/9294262181/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelbwelch/9294262181/