Dinosaur find: Velociraptor ancestor was 'winged dragon'

[n2doc]

By Victoria Gill

Scientists have discovered a winged dinosaur - an ancestor of the velociraptor - that they say was on the cusp of becoming a bird.

The 6ft 6in (2m) creature was almost perfectly preserved in limestone, thanks to a volcanic eruption that had buried it in north-east China.

And the 125-million year-old fossil suggests many other dinosaurs, including velociraptors, would have looked like "big, fluffy killer birds".

But it is unlikely that it could fly.



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http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33510288

[DetlefK]

1. "Who's a big, fluffy killer-bird? YOU are a big, fluffy killer-bird!"

The colors in the artist's depiction are incorrect. So far, the only identified colors on dinosaur-feathers are white, shades of grey, black and shades of brown.

[TeeYiYi]

4. That's not the feathers...

That's a ceremonial dinosaur headdress covering the dinosaur's embarrassing gray feathers. Duh.



TYY

[bvf]

5. "Who's a big, fluffy killer-bird? YOU are a big, fluffy killer-bird!"

LOL!

[starroute]

6. The question of dinosaur feather colors is still unresolved

The scientists are still arguing about the technical end of the reconstructions. But one of the strongest arguments is that non-flying dinosaurs would most likely have had feathers for purposes of display -- and that suggests they were every bit as colorful as present-day birds.

See for example http://motherboard.vice.com/read/what-colors-were-dinosaur-feathers

[DetlefK]

8. That argument doesn't make sense.

That's like finding the damaged remains of a black&white TV and deducing that it was capable of showing colors because it was clearly used to show realistic images.

[starroute]

9. It's more like finding the remains of a broken traffic light...

... with the glass lenses all knocked out out and concluding that it had three identical bulbs that differed only in their positions.

Feathers exist today. In the majority of birds, they are brightly colored and elaborately patterned and serve purposes of display as well as flight and insulation. And concluding that the ancestors of birds were limited to shades of black, white, and brown -- even though they couldn't fly and in many cases had no apparent need for insulation -- seems like prioritizing science over common sense.

[DetlefK]

10. Whoa. Easy there. :D :D :D

Common sense tells us that the world is flat, that we are at the center of the universe, that we are God's chosen master-race with the rest of creation at our discretion to use and destroy as we see fit, that matter has no quantum-nature, that light-speed is infinite, that wearing a totem gives us its qualities...

There's a difference between common sense and logical thinking.

[HereSince1628]

11. Do we know from fossil feather that there was no structural color?

I don't really know which is why I'm asking.

I do know that some color in bird feathers, particularly blue, isn't due to pigment but a consequence of structure.

Does the fossil evidence reveal enough information across enough fossils to preclude structural colors or is that a conservative conclusion based on a lack of evidence for structural color in the limited samples available?

[DetlefK]

12. You mean plasmonic nanostructures.

Light creates a plasmon-resonance in the nanostructure which in turn creates light of a specific color.

Well, I found was this:
http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2012/03/dinosaur-feathers-evolved-to-attract-mates/

"Information on feather color of a variety of dinosaurs has recently come to light, since the first color map of an extinct dinosaur showed black and white spangles, red coloration and gray body color in a species called Anchiornis in 2010."

[HereSince1628]

13. Maybe that's what I meant. I meant color related to structural features

within the feather barbules that are responsible for optical phenomena such as iridescence and also blue color of bird feathers.

[AlbertCat]

2. In a way....

..... more frightening than Spielberg's.

[enlightenment]

3. No kidding.

My grandmother had a parrot that reminds me of that dinosaur. She called him Petey. His favorite line was "Petey wants a finger!"

He was completely serious about that.

[trusty elf]

7. Velocirapper

[img][/img]

[KamaAina]

14. Xposted to GD

for a wider audience.