Posted on 09/17/2005 3:35:39 AM PDT by SeaLion
THE popular image of Tyrannosaurus rex and other killer dinosaurs may have to be changed as a scientific consensus emerges that many were covered with feathers.
Most predatory dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurs and velociraptors have usually been depicted in museums, films and books as covered in a thick hide of dull brown or green skin. The impression was of a killer stripped of adornment in the name of hunting efficiency.
This week, however, a leading expert on dinosaur evolution will tell the British Association, the principal conference of British scientists, that this image is wrong.
Gareth Dyke, a palaeontologist of University College Dublin, will tell the BA Festival of Science being held in the city that most such creatures were coated with delicate feathery plumage that could even have been multi-coloured. Fossil evidence that such dinosaurs were feathered is now “irrefutable”.
“The way these creatures are depicted can no longer be considered scientifically accurate,” he said. “All the evidence is that they looked more like birds than reptiles. Tyrannosaurs might have resembled giant chicks.”
The latest visualisation suggests that parts of Walking with Dinosaurs, the acclaimed BBC series, cannot be seen as scientifically valid. Similar criticisms might also be levelled at the Hollywood blockbuster Jurassic Park.
The Natural History Museum in London, which has a popular exhibition of robot dinosaurs, conceded this weekend that some of its permanent displays may have to be adapted to reflect the new findings.
The feather revelation follows a series of discoveries in fossil beds at Liaoning in northeast China where a volcanic eruption buried many dinosaurs alive. It also cut off the oxygen that would otherwise have rotted them away.
Some theropod (“beast-footed”) dinosaurs were preserved complete with feathery plumage. Theropod is the name given to predatory creatures that walked upright on two legs, balanced by a long tail.
The feathered finds include an early tyrannosaur, a likely ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex, two small flying dinosaurs and five other predators. Feathers are thought to have evolved first to keep dinosaurs warm and only later as an aid to flight.
Such finds are significant in linking dinosaurs to modern birds. Most palaeontologists accept that birds are descended from dinosaurs but there is fierce debate over how this happened. At the Dublin conference, Dyke will present new evidence suggesting that dinosaurs evolved the ability to fly and that some even developed all four limbs into wings.
And what knowledge was advanced?
LMAO
Besides, we find dinosaur bones in Alaska and Atarctica.
The dupes we all worry about are "same day" types. They are annoying.
It's still surprising to discover that there's no guard rail at the Niagara River.
I got your point. ;-)
"No he's not. He's sleeping."
"What; for 65 million years? That's quite a nap!"
It has generally been accepted among paleontologists since the 1970s that dinosaurs were warm-blooded ("endothermic", if you prefer).
Well, this settles one thing for me.
People have often speculated about what it would be like to eat a "brontosaur" as Fred Flintstone did.
Now we know. -- It tastes like chicken.
They lost me when they suggested "Walking With Dinosaurs" was something other than complete fiction. At least some people who produce fiction (like you and Anoreth) are honest about making it all up!
"...Besides, we find dinosaur bones in Alaska and Atarctica...."
Additionally, remember that climate and weather patterns are not constant. During the Mesozoic, the earth's climate was generally quite a bit warmer than it is now. Go to this link:
http://www.scotese.com/climate.htm
and explore maps of the climate of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous for a good overview.
The fella's nom de bear was Timothy Treadwell. I forget his real name.
Feathers (each affixed to little muscles in the hide) which can be opened and closed (fluffed like modern birds do) answers that question.
Now, the big question ~ did they taste like chicken?
Just don't keep repeating it.
...THE popular image of Tyrannosaurus rex and other killer dinosaurs may have to be changed as a scientific consensus emerges that many were covered with feathers....What??...Dinosaurs with boas?...another childhood image shattered...Gay Dinosaurs...sick...just sick!
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