Colourful Dinosaur Feathers Attracted Mates
New studies of a dinosaur fossil have provided surprising new knowledge about the extinct animal’s plumage. The fossil, which was discovered by a peasant in China, ended up in the hands of scientists from the palaeontological museum in Liaoning in 2014. It has been dated to be 161 million years old.
The fossil is so well-preserved that scientists have been able to recreate the colours of the dino’s plumage, with reasonable confidence. Using a scanning electron microscope, they have studied structures known as melanosomes, which are tiny organelles that contain colour pigment.
The pigment is long gone, but that did not stop the scientists. The shape of the melanosomes determine how the light is reflected and this determines colours of the feathers. In some of the feathers, the scientists found pancake-shaped melanosomes, which also exist in hummingbirds. By subsequently studying all organelle shapes, they managed to recreate the colours of the dinosaur’s plumage.
The result shows that the dinosaur had colourful feathers on its head, neck, and part of the wings, which have inspired its Mandarin name,
Caihong juji, meaning "rainbow with the big crest". The Caihong juji was the size of a duck, but appears to have been incapable of true flight. The plumage probably kept it warm, and the colours may have attracted mates. Colourful feathers have previously only been found in dinosaurs that existed 40 million years later.