Ooooo, shiny!

A shiny dinosaur? Four-winged Microraptor gets colour and gloss

Quote

For the longest time, artists could only speculate about what dinosaurs looked like. Sure, we could reconstruct their silhouettes from their bones, but the colour of their skin was a mystery. That's not quite true anymore. Thanks to some well preserved fossils and some ingenuous detective work, scientists have started to assign the right palettes to these prehistoric reptiles.

The latest species to get this treatment is Microraptor. This Chinese dinosaur was about the size of a crow. Its body was covered in feathers. Long plumes on both its arms and legs gave it a distinctive four-winged, baggy-trousered look, and may have allowed it to glide or fly. And thanks to a new study by Quanguo Li form the Beijing Museum of Natural History, we know that Microraptor was probably black and certainly shiny.

It was a iridescent dinosaur, with the same metallic sheen that you see on today's hummingbirds, peacocks, and swallows. If you travelled back in time and stumbled across Microraptor, you might think that you'd found a Cretaceous starling.

Cool article. Basically, by comparing the structure of fossil feathers with modern feathers, they can get a good idea of the colours of ancient plumage.

*cue Monty Python dead parrot jokes* parrot

Welcome

Donations

Recent Posts

New Britain

Random Islamic History Po...

Qur'anic studies today

Muslim grooming gangs sti...

German nationalist party ...

Lights on the way

Russia invades Ukraine

Islam and Science Fiction

اضواء على الطريق ....... ...

Do humans have needed kno...

Gaza assault

AMRIKAAA Land of Free .....

Theme Changer

Topic: Ooooo, shiny!

osmanthus

OP - March 11, 2012, 09:31 PM

nesrin

Reply #1 - March 11, 2012, 10:00 PM

ateapotist

Reply #2 - March 11, 2012, 10:47 PM

Basic Information

General Resources

CEMB Organisation