A Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur from Siberia with both feathers and scales

2014/07/24 by Pascal Godefroit, Sofia M. Sinitsa, Danielle Dhouailly +5 · 13 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Fossil Insects in Amber

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1253351

openalex publication_date 2014/07/24 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits from northeastern China have yielded varied theropod dinosaurs bearing feathers. Filamentous integumentary structures have also been described in ornithischian dinosaurs, but whether these filaments can be regarded as part of the evolutionary lineage toward feathers remains controversial. Here we describe a new basal neornithischian dinosaur from the Jurassic of Siberia with small scales around the distal hindlimb, larger imbricated scales around the tail, monofilaments around the head and the thorax, and more complex featherlike structures around the humerus, the femur, and the tibia. The discovery of these branched integumentary structures outside theropods suggests that featherlike structures coexisted with scales and were potentially widespread among the entire dinosaur clade; feathers may thus have been present in the earliest dinosaurs.

Citations

• Hind Wings in Basal Birds and the Evolution of Leg Feathers
• Fossilized melanosomes and the colour of Cretaceous dinosaurs and birds
• An Archaeopteryx-like theropod from China and the origin of Avialae
• A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like feathers
• The Evolutionary Origin And Diversification Of Feathers
• A Jurassic avialan dinosaur from China resolves the early phylogenetic history of birds
• The dorsal appendages of the Triassic reptile Longisquama insignis: reconsideration of a controversial integument type
• Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur
• Reduced plumage and flight ability of a new Jurassic paravian theropod from China
• TNT, a free program for phylogenetic analysis
• First trace and body fossil evidence of a burrowing, denning dinosaur
• FEATHERED DINOSAURS

Cited by

• Recent advances in amniote palaeocolour reconstruction and a framework for future research
• Evolution of dinosaur epidermal structures
• How to rely on the unreliable: Examples from Mesozoic bryophytes of Transbaikalia
• Pterosaur integumentary structures with complex feather-like branching
• Bristles before down: A new perspective on the functional origin of feathers
• Pterosaur plumage
• An integrative approach to understanding bird origins
• Rhetoric vs. reality: A commentary on “Bird Origins Anew” by A. Feduccia
• The wings before the bird: an evaluation of flapping-based locomotory hypotheses in bird antecedents
• A new phylogeny of cerapodan dinosaurs
• Avifilopluma [wikipedia]
• Dinosaur [wikipedia]
• Feather [wikipedia]