It’s possible that all dinosaurs had feathers.
Scientists previously thought that only avian dinosaurs — that is, the direct ancestors of our modern birds — sported feathers along with their scales. But the discovery of fossilized feathers on a newly identified dinosaur far removed from the bird lineage means that feathers likely were more widespread in the dinosaur world.
The discovery, published Thursday in Science, could change scientists’ understanding of how and why feathers evolved.
Several partial skeletons of the new dinosaur, called Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, were discovered in a recent geological survey of the Kulinda Valley in Siberia. A plant-eating dinosaur that lived during the Jurassic period and reached about 5 feet long, it didn’t use its feathers for flying.
Their feathers varied from quite primitive to downy feathers much like those seen on modern birds, reported lead study author Pascal Godefroit of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The bristles most likely served as insulation, indicating that it was warm-blooded, Godefroit said.
