Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion

For a long time, we’ve been reminded that, though we see paintings and sculptures of dinosaurs in particular colors, nobody really knows what colors the dinosaurs were. Now, in the case of one dinosaur, that’s not at all true.

Scientists have examined small structures in the feathers of the dinosaur Sinosauropteryx in order to explore an evolutionary connection between birds and dinosaurs. Particular types of these structures, melanosomes, are associated with particular colors in modern day birds. So, by identifying the melanosomes in fossilized feathers of Sinosauropteryx, researchers can tell which parts of the creature had feathers of which colors.

The results indicate bands of light and dark orange along the tail of the dinosaur. Read more about it.