A new dinosaur discovery suggests that most—if not all—of the prehistoric creatures may have been feathered.
Researchers published evidence this month of a newly discovered dinosaur, found in Siberia, which sported both scales and feathers.
The Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus is the first-ever example of a plant-eating dinosaur with feathers, and its discovery suggests that many more types of dinosaurs also had feathers or similar structures resembling bristles or down.
"I was really amazed when I saw this," said Pascal Godefroit, a Belgian paleontologist who is one of the authors of the study.
"Our new find clinches it: all dinosaurs had feathers, or at least the potential to sprout feathers," he said in a statement when the study was released.
The Kulindadromeus was a plant-eating dinosaur that grew to be about a metre long. It lived somewhere between 169 and 150 million years ago, making it one of the earliest-feathered dinosaurs to be discovered.
The four-legged creature had feathers measuring up to 15 millimetres long on its arms and legs. It also had scales on its tail and shins, and bristles on its head and back.
The Kulindadromeus could not fly. The feathers were probably used for insulation or to attract mates. The discovery suggests that feathers didn’t begin as tools for flight, but evolved to fit that function.
Jordan Mallon, a paleontologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, said that early feathers looked different from what people now call feathers.
He told CTVNews.ca that scientists define feathers as structures with a central rachis, or stem, with barbs off its side.
"The earliest feathers or featherlike structures might have looked more like hair or quills," he said.
Feathered bird ancestors existed over 150 million years ago, and in 1996, researchers found evidence of meat-eating feathered dinosaurs in China. But the discovery of the Kulindadromeus marks the first time a dinosaur of its kind has been found with feathers.
The authors of the study say this suggests that all type of dinosaurs could have had feathers, but Mallon said there is still research to be done.
"I think what this new fossil is teaching us is that the evolution of feathers is more complicated than we thought," Mallon said.
More proof is needed to persuade some scientists that the featherlike structures on the Kulindadromeus are made of the same materials as feathers found on meat-eating bird ancestors.
"Some palaeontologists still pretend that dinosaurs are not ancestors of birds and that, in this case, it is impossible to find feathers in dinosaurs!" Godefroit said in an email exchange.
And there are some dinosaur-lovers whose minds won’t change, Mallon added.
"I know that the new 'Jurassic Park' movie that they’re making won’t feature feathered dinosaurs," he said. "Which I think is kind of a shame."
