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Dinosaur feathers found!

Dinosaur Feathers Found in Amber Reinforce Evolution Theories

Protofeather fossils discovered entombed in amber from the Late Cretaceous era support theories of dinosaur and avian evolution -- and make for one beautiful gallery

Dinosaur and bird feathers preserved in amber from a Late Cretaceous site in Canada reveal new insights into the structure, function, and color of animals that date back to about 78 million years ago.
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http://www.theatlantic.com/life/arc...in-amber-reinforce-evolution-theories/245094/
 
Rustypouch beat you with this news by four minutes!!!

Still, it's really cool news :)
 
Ah! Just missed that.

Maybe mods can merge the threads, as the article I linked to has a nice gallery and a Q&A section. :)
 
Fantastic! Now if they can just find some feathers still in pin, with traces of blood...
 
dinosaurs may have been colourfully feathered.(BBC)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/science-environment-14933298

a chunk of amber found in alberta preserves dinosaur feathers.

In fact, a picture is emerging that many dinosaurs were not the dull-coloured, reptilian-skinned creatures that they were once thought to be.

"If you were to transport yourself back 80 million years to western North America and walk around the forest... so many of the animals would have been feathered," said Dr Norell.

"We're getting more and more evidence... that these animals were also brightly coloured, just like birds are today."
 
Absolutely amazing, and forget the evolution argument, this shows science at its best. The research came almost entirely from trawling back through previously collected specimens but looking at them a different way.
 
I find feathered dinosaurs and early birds absolutely fascinating! While those examples of 17 million-year old plumage are amazing, it's still pretty young in the history of feathers and flight. We have some amazingly pristine 120 million-year old fossils of Confuciusornis, the earliest known bird to have a beak. By analyzing the fossils microscopically, we can even be pretty certain that it had a black body with patches on its wings.

Even more amazing is Sinosauropteryx, a 125 million-year old feathered dinosaur. The pigments in its feathers were so well fossilized that we can tell that they were a reddish-ginger color.

Perhaps my favorite bird/dinosaur is the 150 million-year old Archaeopteryx. Googling isn't turning up any pictures, but one specific specimen that we have is that of a female Archaeopteryx sitting on her nest full of eggs. Just like modern birds, she has her head folded under her wing as she sleeps.

It always makes me sad thinking of a poor, unsuspecting mother Archaeopteryx sitting on her nest full of soon-to-be-Archaeopteryx eggs, one day 150 million years ago, and getting covered in the thick muck that helped preserve her so beautifully for millions of years.

ETA.: Just found this reconstruction of Iberomesornis romerali, which lived 125 million-years ago. Next time someone complains about a supposed lack of "transitional fossils," I'm showing them that picture.
 
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TheAnachronism said:
I find feathered dinosaurs and early birds absolutely fascinating! While those examples of 17 million-year old plumage are amazing, it's still pretty young in the history of feathers and flight. We have some amazingly pristine 120 million-year old fossils of Confuciusornis, the earliest known bird to have a beak. By analyzing the fossils microscopically, we can even be pretty certain that it had a black body with patches on its wings.

Even more amazing is Sinosauropteryx, a 125 million-year old feathered dinosaur. The pigments in its feathers were so well fossilized that we can tell that they were a reddish-ginger color.

Perhaps my favorite bird/dinosaur is the 150 million-year old Archaeopteryx. Googling isn't turning up any pictures, but one specific specimen that we have is that of a female Archaeopteryx sitting on her nest full of eggs. Just like modern birds, she has her head folded under her wing as she sleeps.

It always makes me sad thinking of a poor, unsuspecting mother Archaeopteryx sitting on her nest full of soon-to-be-Archaeopteryx eggs, one day 150 million years ago, and getting covered in the thick muck that helped preserve her so beautifully for millions of years.

ETA.: Just found this reconstruction of Iberomesornis romerali, which lived 125 million-years ago. Next time someone complains about a supposed lack of "transitional fossils," I'm showing them that picture.
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Fascinating.

I think most people who've learned a little bit about this know Archaeopteryx as the oldest known "bird," but the other info is very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
 
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