Not the first mid-Cretaceous feathers found in amber, but the first to be found associated with bones that prove them to be from a non-avian dinosaur and not an early bird.
Thank Og for amber or we might still think the world was flat or something…
*I knew the big lizards had feathers all along. But no one would believe me. ::: pout :::: *
I know quite a few old fogies who prefer their dinos with the tripod gait for “aesthetical” reasons. As someone who saw JP in theaters as a tot lo those many years ago, I figured it was why I prefer the “bent-over” look. But it didn’t take much at all to convince me that feathered dinos are just as majestic, wild and literally awesome as their debunked scaly selves, if not moreso.
It’d be disingenuous to say that Jurassic Worlds’ biggest problem was its adherence to that image, especially when the first two films strived for accuracy in spite of the then-popular “tripod” gait and feathers being still only theoretical at the time, but it’s up there.
We have a small flock of chickens. 6 actually, it was 7 but one was partly eaten a few days ago by an unknown assailant, but I digress.
When they all come running over when I’m throwing them scraps, I sorta kinda imagine them as bigger and dinosaur scary, and it’s pretty disturbing actually.
There is a picture of the fossil showing what are obviously feathers (scroll down to the third picture). Very cool.
Yes, very.
Break out the clonamajig!
I was hoping the same thing, but alas.
[QUOTE=OP’s link]
McKellar said that soft tissue and decayed blood from the tail were found in the amber but no genetic material was preserved.
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Agreed that this would be an extemely cromulent use of the clonamajig, but as Crotalus points out it’s not possible.
I wonder how the pigments stood the test of time.
Imagine the exploding heads if we discovered that T-Rex was a disgusting purple with a green belly.
According to the article, the preserved pigments suggest that it was chestnut brown and white (and this isn’t T-Rex).
The size of a robin. Oops, my cats caused a mass extinction.
(My cats are indoors cats and one was sitting beside me when I read the article. They do have fun watching the dinosaurs outside through the window.)
It would have to be pretty small to have any substantial fraction of it trapped in amber.
You may have missed the “Barney” reference.
Duplicate threads merged.
I for one would like to welcome our new cloned dinosaur overlords.
Echoing down the aeons: “Billy, I told you if you sat there you’d get stuck forever!”
Amazing! I love this kind of stuff!
That is so very, very, very cool. Here’s to hoping that other preserved body parts of these tiny buggers will show up eventually! (Guessing that due to their size, there isn’t much in the way of a fossil record for them?)