painted wolf
Grey Muzzle
A newly described fossil of a juvenile theropod: Sciurumimus albersdoerferi, pushes feathers even further back into the dinosaur family tree. The genus name means "squirrel mimic" in honor of the bushy tail where most of the feathers are preserved. The species name is in honor of the owner of the fossil who allowed scientists the chance to prepare and study it.
This little guy is a megalosaur, a fairly primitive group of theropod dinosaurs... up until now unambiguous protofeathers/feathers have been found only in coelurosaurs a fairly advanced group that includes T.rex, "raptors" and ultimately birds.
This not only pushes back protofeathers but lends weight to the hypothesis that all dinosaurs had such structures (even if only as hatchlings) and that the quill-like structures found in some exceptionally preserved ornithopods may be either specialized protofeathers or an earlier stage in their evolution.
Plus it's a super cute little baby dinosaur that is amazingly complete.
and under UV
You can just make out some of the feathers on the tail.
wa:do
This little guy is a megalosaur, a fairly primitive group of theropod dinosaurs... up until now unambiguous protofeathers/feathers have been found only in coelurosaurs a fairly advanced group that includes T.rex, "raptors" and ultimately birds.
This not only pushes back protofeathers but lends weight to the hypothesis that all dinosaurs had such structures (even if only as hatchlings) and that the quill-like structures found in some exceptionally preserved ornithopods may be either specialized protofeathers or an earlier stage in their evolution.
Plus it's a super cute little baby dinosaur that is amazingly complete.
and under UV
You can just make out some of the feathers on the tail.
wa:do