Dinosaur dandruff shows how creatures shed skin

IRISH scientists have discovered 125-million-yearold dandruff in dinosaur fossils – offering a revolutionary insight into how the ancient creatures shed and renewed their skin.

The discovery was made by University College Cork (UCC) palaeontologist Dr Maria McNamara and her team after years of study of the fossils.

The fossils studied included those of the remarkable dinosaurs Microraptor, Beipiaosaurus and Sinornithosaurus.

Using powerful electron microscopes, they studied fossil cells as well as dandruff from modern birds – and discovered that ‘dino dandruff’ almost precisely matches the dandruff in modern birds which forms part of their skin renewal process. Their findings are published in science journal, ‘Nature Communications’.

Remarkably, their discovery is the first evidence confirmed as to how dinosaurs shed their skin. As in human dandruff, the fossil dandruff is made of tough cells called corneocytes.

The feathered dinosaurs shed their skin in flakes, like the early bird Confuciusornis studied by the team, and also modern birds and mammals. In contrast, modern reptiles shed their skin in a single piece.

Dr McNamara’s study has suggested this feature evolved sometime in the late Middle Jurassic era.

“There was a burst of evolution of feathered dinosaurs and birds at this time, and it’s exciting to see evidence the skin of early birds and dinosaurs was evolving rapidly in response to bearing feathers,” she said.

Dr McNamara led the study, in collaboration with postdoctoral researcher Dr Chris Rogers, Dr Andre Toulouse and Tara Foley, also from UCC, Dr Paddy Orr from UCD, and al team of palaeontologists from the UK and China.