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I found this in my backyard while digging up my yard to plant a new lawn. I thought it was interesting because of the blue but after looking at it closer I noticed little bones and what appears to be the skull of a dinosaur. My wife says I’m crazy. So please help, is it a rock or a bird? Thank you

Recently I started collecting dinosaur teeth from Morocco and it has completely refueled my childhood fascination with these awesome creatures. I work as an illustrator (amongst other things) and have taken up the idea of making an illustration of the Kem Kem dinosaur fauna. Before I start sketching, I need to know how these creatures looked like. One main thing I need to do is decide what animals I will give feathers. Here are my thoughts. Species I want to include: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus - enormous, probably semi-aquatic animal, so probably no feathers Carcharodontosaurus saharicus - very big animal, probably no feathers but perhaps some for display? Rugops primus (I am aware it is not (yet) officially described from Morocco) - given that Carnotaurus was most probably not feathered, I am going to assume Rugops was also a scaly animal Deltadromeus agilis - I am going to assume it is an noasaurid. No evidence for feathers. I am thinking about including some fluffy, feathered juveniles. Rebbachisaurus garasbae - big sauropod, no feathers An indeterminate dromaeosaur - fully feathered like a bird An indeterminate titanosaur - huge animal without feathers That's it! Maybe I am slighty too conservative regarding the feathers? Would be great to hear your thoughts.

This piece of amber containing an inclusion of feathers was extensively cracked but had an interesting feature: it appears to show a silver reflective color in a distinct pattern. These tiny feathers have an apparent reflective substance on certain parts of primarily two adjacent feathers that show this pattern. In some angles a silver color is visible. How common is this? Do you think this is an actual color on whatever bird/non-avian dino it was a part of?

Hi everyone! Recently my friend have just bought this. This is Myanmar amber from one seller that we usually trade but he don't have any idea about ID it. So I would like to ask you is this actually dinosaur or bird. What is the best label for it if it hard to ID. Thanks for reading!

Dinosaur feather study debunked: Overwhelming evidence supports Jurassic fossil does belong to Archaeopteryx by University of South Florida https://phys.org/news/2020-09-dinosaur-feather-debunked-overwhelming-evidence.html The open access paper is: Carney, R.M., Tischlinger, H. & Shawkey, M.D. Evidence corroborates identity of isolated fossil feather as a wing covert of Archaeopteryx. Sci Rep 10, 15593 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65336-y The original article is: First discovered fossil feather did not belong to iconic bird Archaeopteryx by The University of Hong Kong https://phys.org/news/2019-02-fossil-feather-iconic-bird-archaeopteryx.html The open access paper is: Kaye, T.G., Pittman, M., Mayr, G. et al. Detection of lost calamus challenges identity of isolated Archaeopteryx feather. Sci Rep 9, 1182 (2019). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37343-7?sf207999490=1 Yours, Paul H.

New small feathered dinosaur was not fully grown but had elaborate feathers. Bone histology shows it was not an adult. Also shows paravian dinosaurs grew differently than birds. https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/sdnh-ndd011520.php

First evidence of feathered polar dinosaurs found in Australia Uppsala University, November 12, 2019 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191112110235.htm The paper is: Martin Kundrát, Thomas H. Rich, Johan Lindgren, Peter Sjövall, Patricia Vickers-Rich, Luis M. Chiappe, Benjamin P. Kear. A polar dinosaur feather assemblage from Australia. Gondwana Research, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.gr.2019.10.004 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X19302850 Related publications, Koonwarra Fossil Bed, Dr Stephen Poropat https://stephenporopat.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/4/2/24423511/poropat_2018_the_koonwarra_fossil_bed._ferns_flowers_fleas_and_fish...and_feathers_for_good_measure.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stephen_Poropat https://stephenporopat.weebly.com Bean, L.B., 2017. Reappraisal of Mesozoic fishes and associated invertebrates and flora from Talbragar and Koonwarra, eastern Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 129(1), pp.7-20. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318676969_Reappraisal_of_Mesozoic_fishes_and_associated_invertebrates_and_flora_from_Talbragar_and_Koonwarra_Eastern_Australia Yours, Paul H.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46572782

Howdy-ho, folks: I was helping my dad dig a ditch and found this, it's in Stearns County MN. We live on top of a glacial dropoff (top of a rather large Hill, similar to powder ridge if you know the area). It looks like the head of something, with a beak and all. However, am i seeing something that's not there? is it worth my time to take somewhere? If you look at it up close, it has features, and what looks like freaking feathers. There are even symmetrical eye holes, looks like it laid down somewhere and that was it. I did post this on reddit and got laughed at, i figured before cutting this thing up into strips I'd get a second opinion. It's about 8 inches long, sorry i forgot to take pics of it with a ruler. Worse case worse - to prove it's not anything, should I just cut it up? Views: left, right, bottom. Edit: for anyone interested, I inherited grandfather's rock "collection" (but really these were rocks he found at the farm) and if you know anything about the other rocks I just added - if you know anything, let me know. I'd also be game of giving some of these to anyone in the local mn area, if interested. these were in a pike on his workbench, supposedly they were "rarer" rocks, but that was just from him picking things up, could have been just what he found pretty or something. grandpa was a grade a [jerk] so no one really wants 'em for the sentimental value, sadly enough. I may just create a new posting with pics of some of the rocks, don't want to waste too much of your guys/girls time however. i myself travel most of the time and live in a tiny apartment so keeping more than one or two is out of the question, unfortunately as well.

"The tail of a feathered dinosaur has been found perfectly preserved in amber from Myanmar. The stunning discovery helps put flesh on the bones of these extinct creatures, opening a new window on the biology of a group that dominated Earth for more than 160 million years. Examination of the specimen suggests the tail was chestnut brown on top and white on its underside." http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38224564

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/familiar-problem-for-feathered-forebears-dinosaurs-had-dandruff-too-1.3508482 http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44252455 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/may/25/oldest-known-case-of-dandruff-found-in-125-million-year-old-dinosaur

I am in the process of creating scientifically accurate extinct plush animals, and I had a question in regards to the integument of Tyrannosaurus Rex. I know there is evidence supporting the scaly covering of T. Rex from various impressions from the Wyrex specimen, but I am unsure of the location, size and implication of these impressions. We want to make our animals (while made more 'cute') to be accurate to the scientific finds at the time of their production. However, I must admit a large attraction of the T. Rex plush is that it will have a feathery covering on it's body. Even though the feathers are highly speculative I think the idea of feathers on a T. Rex will get some people to question what they know and hopefully delve more into the science behind these creatures rather than just take recreations at face value. So my question in short is this: Where do we KNOW T. Rex had scales, how large were these scales, and whats the maximum size and location of coverage we could accurately speculate T. Rex could have had feathers without ignoring the facts? Thanks a ton for your answers and views

BBC article about a dinosaur from China showing a patterned face and striped tail http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41763478

Genuine fossils with exquisitely preserved plumage from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of north-eastern China have recently revealed that bird-like theropod dinosaurs had long pennaceous feathers along their hindlimbs and may have used their four wings to glide or fly. Thus, it has been postulated that early bird flight might initially have involved four wings. Link : https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007/s00114-017-1496-y?author_access_token=qK5jILmlXqTUfzaXSeOT4fe4RwlQNchNByi7wbcMAY5XtMiIuzLHT0w7pfMEQCqN57cyEs2GIzoqs5Z9sbEt05ydpRV-wedb1KJ5MwJh8Kg2RuubzDV9r0AJl8jBoI_iqK1-9ikzq8p8bOLVXyh_UA%3D%3D

Wow! http://a-dinosaur-a-day.com/post/161549500085/a-baby-in-amber

The amazingly preserved fossil. Peteya et al./Palaeontology Many birds today are famous for their beautiful plumage, whose iridescence is often used to attract a mate. A new study in the journal Palaeontology has revealed that the very same seductive sparkle existed in at least one type of bird living hundreds of millions of years ago. Excavated in northeastern China, a juvenile critter – no more than 8 centimeters (3.1 inches) in length – was found with its feathers immaculately preserved. They were long and streamlined, and spread out from its back and tail, leading researchers to think that it may have displayed them in the way a peacock does. In addition, intricate structures, those used by modern birds to warp the passage of light to produce reflective and colorful patterns, were also spotted within the feathers. This combination of evidence suggests that this bird used these feathers not only to aid flight, but – like plenty of birds today – they were also used to show off to an eligible singleton. This particular 120-million-year-old airborne dinosaur was part of the extinct enantiornithines group. Almost all of them had clawed fingers on their wings and many still had teeth within their “beaks”, but externally they resembled modern birds. “Many enantiornithine birds possessed ornate feathers,” lead author Dr Jennifer Peteya, a palaeontologist at the University of Akron, told BBC News. “This new specimen shows that some enantiornithines also had iridescent feathers and, unlike most modern birds, these flashy ornaments developed before the animal was fully grown.” As this study underscores, birds were, and are, one of the most diverse and rapidly evolving groups of organisms on the planet. Among other things, feathers provide perfect examples of this quick pace of diversification. Not originally designed for flight, many experts assign their appearance to that of sexual selection, something that this new study appears to agree with. It’s also thought that feathers were a way for dinosaurs (flying or grounded) to regulate their internal body temperatures. Plenty of birds use colorful feathers to attract mates, including Scarlet macaws, whose typical plumage is pictured here. Super Prin/Shutterstock The first bird-like dinosaurs appeared during the Late Jurassic, around 150 million years ago. Feathers, hollow bone structures, killing claws, and perhaps even the ability to fly – charactertistics of many modern birds – appeared in Cretaceous dinosaurs shortly afterwards. These groups include Deinonychus, quick-footed predators, and the ostrich-like oviraptorosaurs like the recently-discovered Tongtianlong. Along with the enantiornitheans, these groups died out during the mass extinction event at the end-Cretaceous around 66 million years ago – along with the likes of the terrestrial dinosaurs and the pterosaurs. Of course, other groups leading to modern birds made it through, as did their iridescent plumage. So whether the genes influencing sparkly feathers were passed down directly, or whether they evolved independently many times, it seems that certain fashion trends are essentially timeless.

Hi guys. To my understanding it's common theory that dinosaurs weren't entirely reptilian and most of them carried some sort of plumage. I'm wondering if there's evidence that dinosaurs had scales at all(?) or maybe because they were theorized to be entirely reptilian for the longest time was it assumed they had scales? I've tried to research this a little but I figured I'd learn more (accurate) information talking with you guys. Thanks in advance. EDIT: Excellent links, exactly what I was looking for. I'm sorry if I appear lazy but I'm watching a 1 year old and he's in to everything(!) can't leave him alone for a minute. Much appreciated!