3D - 2

Are feathered Dinosaurs a myth beyond all myths? Artists renderings and theory does not a fossil make?

Public Comments

1. No, because there is good evidence for it, and in fact, birds are descended from dinosaurs.
2. No. Artist renderings and theory may not make fossils, but feather imprints in rock do make fossils and we have tons of those.
3. They had feathers, maybe not that color, but the fossils give evidence of feathers.
4. Considering there's a few transitional fossils of half bird/half dinosaur looking creatures, I'd say we DO actually have fossils to go along with the artists renderings.
5. There has been a fossil found of a very ancient species of bird called Archeopteryx.
6. ( -t-) Picture are not fossils, but fossils are sure are fossils...
7. No but fossils do fossils make and there are a couple with what appears to be feathers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feathered_dinosaurs#Fossil_evidence ...
8. We have bones....that's it. the rest is imagination If told as a story It would be okay "Once upon a time"
9. Artists renderings used by scientists should be based on what is found and can be inferred from fossils. Feathers are a feature found on some dinosaur fossils. Coloration cannot be determined, but may be inferred from other clues and how birds with similar features of anatomy are colored.
10. Your question overlooks the reality: feather imprints have been found with many fossils. The earliest discovered examples were various examples of Archaeopteryx. In the 1990's, an abundance of new specimens were found near Liaoning, China, in an area which had once been blanketed by volcanic ash, making for astoundingly complete fossils. Note that quill knobs (the structures which support the feathers) preserve rather more readily than do the feathers themselves, and once an abundance of feathered dinosaurs had been found and analyzed (and we figured out what a dinosaur quill knob actually looks like), it became apparent that such structures were surprisingly common. Nevertheless, specimens with actual preserved feathers include (but by now are not limited to) Sinosauropteryx, Protoarcheopteryx, Caudipteryx, Shuvuuia (preserved quills tested positive for beta carotene, and absent of alpha carotene, which is a unique characteristic of bird feathers), Sinornithosaurus, Beipaosaurus, Microraptor (VERY evident), Cryptovolans, Scansoriopteryx, Epidendrosaurus, Yixianosaurus (known from fossil forearms with feathers), Dilong (earliest and most primitive tyranosaurid known), Pedopenna (dated earlier than Archaeopteryx, HIGHLY birdlike structure), Jinfengopteryx (preserved not only with feather impressions, but with the structure of seeds that it had eaten before it died), Sinocalliopteryx, Similicaudypteryx (first specimen found only inferred feathers structurally, two subsequent specimens had preserved feather impressions), Epidexypterix, Anchiomis (not only did it have preserved feather structures, but preserved melanosomes, allowing scientists to infer actual COLOUR of the feathers). That's the short list, and it's probably out of date, given the pace of new discoveries from the Liaoning Lagerstätte. If structural evidence like quill knobs are allowed for, the list gets REALLY long. Why is this a religion and spirituality question anyways? This seems like more of a biology/paleontology thing. @marsel: in rare circumstances, colour CAN be determined; see Anchiomis @no chance: This is not imagination. These are preserved whole skeletal structures with feather impressions; no imagination required: *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sinosauropteryxfossil.jpg *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Archaeopteryx_lithographica_(Berlin_specimen).jpg *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sinornithosaurus_Dave_NGMC91.jpg