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 A
scientific argument that has been raging for years has finally been
settled: some species of dinosaur were completely feathered, lending
renewed credence to the theory that birds are descended from the giant
creatures. The discovery in China of the complete fossilized remains
of a small theropod clearly shows it to have been entirely covered
with down and feathers.
The fossil was found by farmers at the Yixian Formation, a productive
fossil bed where other incomplete samples have previously been discovered.
The discovery, outlined in today's issue of the journal Nature,
is thought to be the remains of a Sinornithosaurus millenii (a relative
of the Velociraptor, made famous in Jurassic Park). Like it's
larger relative, it has a sharp sickle-shaped claw on the middle toe
of the front legs and stabilizing rods in its tail. The general bone
structure is very similar to that of modern birds. The family of dinosaurs
to which it belongs is known as the dromaeosaurs, of which Tyrannosaurus
Rex is the most famous member.
The Chinese specimen is about 2 feet long and appears to have been
a young animal. The feathered covering could indicate that it was
warm-blooded, according to Mark Norell of the American Museum of Natural
History in New York and Ji Quiang of the Chinese Academy of Geological
Sciences. They speculate that smaller dinosaurs may have needed the
insulation provided by feathers in order to maintain their body warmth,
adding that it is conceivable that the young of larger dinosaurs,
such as T. Rex, might also have had feather-like coverings.
Other fossils from the same area have shown evidence of feathers,
but they were fragmentary, leading some scientists to suggest that
the finds may have been the combined remains of dinosaurs and birds.
This discovery puts that theory to rest.
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Today
in history... |
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1607 - The
first permanent English settlement in the New World is established
at Jamestown. Read the instructions given to the settlers
here.
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