Sinosauropteryx, the first fuzzy dinosaur to be discoverd !
Overall appearance of
Sinosauropteryx, and its feather
Many scientists assumed that feathers were
evolved from elongate scales for flight. However, feathers on Sinosauropteryx were either tubular or downy, and were nothing like elongated scales. Studies on how feathers grow and divelop in modern bird chicks revealed that feathers grow as tubes of skin. Provided by those facts, it seems reasonable to believe that feathers were evolved from skin, not from scales. And, obviously, this dinosaur could not fly! So, why was it feathered? Possibly, those primitive feathers were used for insulation: to keep a warm blooded animal warm.
Another Discovery: Sinornithosaurus
When Sinosauropteryx was becoming famous as
the first fuzzy dinosaur ever discovered, Liaoning was about to produce
another beutifully preserved specimin of a bird-like dinosaur -
Sinornithosaurus millenii. Scientists who discovered this dinosaur loved him (or possibly her...) so much that they named him
Dave! Dave displayed more develped feathers than
Sinosauropteryx.
.
Dave and his feathers - beautifully preserved
Dave and his feathers when he was allive
Although Dave had downy feathers he also
displayed more complex feathers shown above. Dave was a close realative
ofthe famous
Velocirapter; indicating that
Velociraptors also had feathers. How did those dinosaurs used their feathers? One possibility is that they used them for
display.
Dinosaurs are known to be very visual animals - many species evolved
crests or frills presumably to scare off an enemy or to attract members
of the opposite sex. Feathers might have been used in the same way.
Another possibility is that they were might used to
cover up the nests full of eggs.
In Mongolia and China, dinosaurs squatting on eggs were discovered, yet
many eggs between the body and the arms were not covered up. If those
dinosaurs had feathers, it was possible for them to cover up the hole
nest.
So, then, how did flight evolved?
