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Study Shows Dinosaurs Were Covered in *Shock* Feathers. Why is God So Tricky?
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| occrider |
Dinosaurs may have been a fluffy lot
Jonathan Leake, Science Editor
THE popular image of Tyrannosaurus rex and other killer dinosaurs may have to be changed as a scientific consensus emerges that many were covered with feathers.
Most predatory dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurs and velociraptors have usually been depicted in museums, films and books as covered in a thick hide of dull brown or green skin. The impression was of a killer stripped of adornment in the name of hunting efficiency.
This week, however, a leading expert on dinosaur evolution will tell the British Association, the principal conference of British scientists, that this image is wrong.
Gareth Dyke, a palaeontologist of University College Dublin, will tell the BA Festival of Science being held in the city that most such creatures were coated with delicate feathery plumage that could even have been multi-coloured. Fossil evidence that such dinosaurs were feathered is now “irrefutable”.
“The way these creatures are depicted can no longer be considered scientifically accurate,” he said. “All the evidence is that they looked more like birds than reptiles. Tyrannosaurs might have resembled giant chicks.”
The latest visualisation suggests that parts of Walking with Dinosaurs, the acclaimed BBC series, cannot be seen as scientifically valid. Similar criticisms might also be levelled at the Hollywood blockbuster Jurassic Park.
The Natural History Museum in London, which has a popular exhibition of robot dinosaurs, conceded this weekend that some of its permanent displays may have to be adapted to reflect the new findings.
The feather revelation follows a series of discoveries in fossil beds at Liaoning in northeast China where a volcanic eruption buried many dinosaurs alive. It also cut off the oxygen that would otherwise have rotted them away.
Some theropod (“beast-footed”) dinosaurs were preserved complete with feathery plumage. Theropod is the name given to predatory creatures that walked upright on two legs, balanced by a long tail.
The feathered finds include an early tyrannosaur, a likely ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex, two small flying dinosaurs and five other predators. Feathers are thought to have evolved first to keep dinosaurs warm and only later as an aid to flight.
Such finds are significant in linking dinosaurs to modern birds. Most palaeontologists accept that birds are descended from dinosaurs but there is fierce debate over how this happened. At the Dublin conference, Dyke will present new evidence suggesting that dinosaurs evolved the ability to fly and that some even developed all four limbs into wings.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/articl...1764136,00.html |
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| MrSquirrel |
Must mean they tasted like chicken.....
MrS |
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| DaveSZ |
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| trancaholic |
| This seems to confirm my theory of intelligent stretching. Clearly, some process has been responsible for stretching remains of birds into those forms that scientists have been fooled into believing are fossils of dinosaurs. Furthermore, that stretching process must convert bones to stone structures. I can't believe I'm the only one with this insight. |
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| occrider |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrSquirrel
Must mean they tasted like chicken.....
MrS |
Hey, where have you been?
| quote: |
This seems to confirm my theory of intelligent stretching. Clearly, some process has been responsible for stretching remains of birds into those forms that scientists have been fooled into believing are fossils of dinosaurs. Furthermore, that stretching process must convert bones to stone structures. I can't believe I'm the only one with this insight.
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Seems to fit in quite nicely with the theory of intelligent falling. One of us should assemble an encyclopedia of "intelligent" theories. |
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| trancaholic |
| quote: | Originally posted by occrider
Seems to fit in quite nicely with the theory of intelligent falling. One of us should assemble an encyclopedia of "intelligent" theories. |
Yes, seeing that you're of course only being modest, I will help you out, and suggest that you write it in your eloquent english.:) |
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| josh4 |
| Jurassic Park not scientifically valid?! That's crazy talk! |
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| shaolin_Z |
| Interesting article. A follow up article would be nice if you find one. (I'm kind of curious what the consensus amongst the scientific community will be after a while). |
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| Moongoose |
| Didnt they theorize for a while now that some dinosaurs were in fact cowered in feathers? Not all of them though, they did fing fossilised (spelling?) dinosaur skin on more than one occasion if thise Dinosaur magazines i subscribed to for a few years arent wrong :) |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by josh4
Jurassic Park not scientifically valid?! That's crazy talk! |
:eek: *gasp* |
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| George Smiley |
| quote: | Originally posted by josh4
Jurassic Park not scientifically valid?! That's crazy talk! |
There was a documentary on the BBC on sunday about velocoraptors saying the fossils found had feathers on. It also did (alegedly) the first ever experiment to see wat their claws were for - and it showed that they were incapable of slashing open skin (ie to let the bowels out as claimed in Jurassic Pork) but were in fact used for stabbing (a vital artery in the neck or wind pipe) |
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| George Smiley |
And here it is!
Apparently they used their feathered arms to steer more effectively (like what an ostrich uses its wings for - as they dont use them for flying) |
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