back to article Jurassic squawk: Dinosaurs were Earth's early feathered friends

Boffins now reckon it's possible any or all dinosaurs sported feathers, after finding the first ever example of a dino with feathers and scales. Kulindradromeus zabaikalicus, a plant-eating feathered dinosaur Kulindradromeus zabaikalicus, a plant-eating feathered dinosaur Before now, only flesh-eating mighty lizards were …

  1. Lionel Baden
    Thumb Up

    Jurrasic Park IV

    Just not going to be the same with fluffy dinosaurs :D

    1. Nigel 11

      Feathers != fluffy

      Ever had a good look at an eagle? Or a casawary? Now imagine a thirty-foot tall casawary with big teeth ... the movie-makers wouldn't even need to add claws designed for disembowelling, the casawary's already got them.

      They say that inside every small dog is a big dog trying to get out. On a similar principle, inside every sparrowhawk is a T.Rex trying to get out ....

      1. wowfood

        Re: Feathers != fluffy

        So what you're saying is, rather than waste money on a new Jurrasic Park film... We should just do a new line of Godzilla films?

        Godilla vs CassowaryRex

        We could make millions maybe even BILLIONS!

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Rathkennamike
        Black Helicopters

        Re: Feathers != fluffy

        Surely you have realised by now that every time you down a chicken nugget you are eating dinosaur!!

        1. Fungus Bob

          Re: Feathers != fluffy

          "Surely you have realised by now that every time you down a chicken nugget you are eating dinosaur!!"

          Plus 50% synthetic filler!!

        2. Allan George Dyer
          Joke

          Re: Feathers != fluffy

          And, if your local fast-food restaurant was supplied by Husi Food Company, it's prehistoric too!

      3. Richard Taylor 2
        Pirate

        Re: Feathers != fluffy

        For anyone who has kept chickens (yup little birds) the sight of a fleeing mouse pursued by the flock is one that is not easily forgotten. And if they catch it....

    2. Blofeld's Cat
      Coat

      Re: Jurrasic Park IV

      Oh I don't know...

      The ground trembles causing ripples in the puddles as the small group of humans huddle together for comfort. There is a crashing sound nearby and a lightning flash reveals the feathered plume of a T-Rex in all its glory, just inches from them. The creature lowers its head and opens its huge, jaws...

      "WHERE'S MY @$%!^ CRACKER THEN, EH?"

    3. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Re: Jurrasic Park IV

      Have you ever been around an ostrich? In person? Now give the ostrich a more robust body, and claws the size of a ka-bar knife. Oh, and make the wings end in hands that have even more claws...and fill the beak with razor sharp teeth.

      "Fluffy" dinosaur my ASCII.

  2. Mage Silver badge

    Sparrow actually, not even Sparrow Hawk

    See XKCD

    1. tempemeaty
      Pint

      Re: Sparrow actually, not even Sparrow Hawk

      XKCD is always fun. I love that web comic.

      https://xkcd.com/1211/

  3. Tanuki
    Thumb Up

    Bet you could have made some serious chicken-nuggets out of that !

    [I, for one, welcome our new feathery-lizard overlords.]

  4. Phil Skuse

    "Our new find clinches it: all dinosaurs had feathers"

    Welcome to Paleontology, the science of extrapolation.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Welcome to Paleontology, the science of extrapolation."

      It's contagion, spreading from Climatology where extrapolation and correlation-as-causation are regarded as the scientific method.

      1. phil dude
        Joke

        irony...

        One is inferring how a species may have become extinct.

        The other is helping to make sure ours doesn't...

        P.

    2. Faux Science Slayer

      DITTO on the "Paleontology" Science of EXTRAPOLATION ! ! !

      Many Earth science branches extrapolate past conditions from today's parameters. The ONLY explanation for flying reptiles and insects of the Jurassic to have DOUBLE the wingspan of todays flying fauna is that atmospheric pressure MUST have been double, but since "lift" is a function of area, the most likely scenario is that Jurassic air pressure was FOUR TIMES current level. Given the constant erosion by ionization and solar wind, this is plausible, but if reduced to one quarter over 60 million years, what would earlier atmospheric conditions have been like ? ? ?

      For a humorous look at the major extrapolation TOOL, see....

      "New ! Amazing ! Wrongco Proxy Crock ! ! !" under Satire at the FauxScienceSlayer(.)com site.

    3. Anomalous Cowshed

      Totally right

      Welcome to the new, 21st century cool science of palaeontology

      A lesson in logic:

      1. We found one fossil of a dinosaur with what looks like feathers.

      2. This means the weird bristles some people found on some other dinosaur fossils were feathers!

      3. Which leads us to conclude that all dinosaurs were covered with feathers.

  5. ElectricRook
    Thumb Up

    Could be . . .

    Look around the animal kingdom of today, very few animals have bare skin, I can only think of Humans, Elephants, Rhinos and Hippos. Scales, feathers, and fur are the norm; bare skin is the exception.

    1. Anomalous Cowturd
      Holmes

      Re: Could be . . .

      Except all the "bare skinned" creatures you quote have at least some hair, somewhere on their bodies.

      Although mine is not as luxuriant as it used to be...

      I blame the medication ;o)

    2. Technological Viking

      Re: Could be . . .

      The boffins weren't previously accusing the dinos of having bare flesh; it was between feathers and scales, so I don't think we should go bringing humans into a discussion on dinosaurs. We t̶e̶n̶d̶e̶r̶l̶o̶i̶n̶s̶ tend to not do too well when compared to them. Modern day lizards do have some strange external exposure, however.

    3. Eddy Ito

      Re: Could be . . .

      You missed a bunch of amphibians there. In fact save the caecillians, which have scales, I think they all go about in bare skin.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What are the chances they were big birds all along?

  7. tempemeaty
    Happy

    T-Rex was..."Cretaceous Poultry™!

    Kentucky Fried T-Rex? Can you imagine how big that over sized fried chicken leg would be? Yayifications!

    The following is...T-REX with feathers...

    http://dino.wikia.com/wiki/File:640px-New_tyrannosaurus_test_render_project_mesozoica_by_sketchy_raptor-d6wv444.png

    1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Re: T-Rex was..."Cretaceous Poultry™!

      As I understand it, Tyrannasaurids probably had feathers as juveniles, but lost them as they gained adulthood. (Much in the same way some birds go from down to feathers.) The idea being that the feathers provided insulation to juveniles, but that as adults their biggest issue was actually how to lose heat, not retain it.

  8. Mark 85

    So...

    The dinosaurs resemble Barney more than what we were taught? Ok... maybe only one type was purple but feathery???? Somehow T-Rex won't seem as threatening in feathers.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So...

      Especially when purple T-Rex leaps out of the foliage at you, stops, then shifts from foot to foot while singing "I love you. You love me...."

      1. Steven Raith

        Re: So...

        "I love you,

        You love me,

        So you won't mind

        If I have you for my tea?"

        *sounds of crunching bones and screams, followed by silence, and a single goofy chuckle*

        "Wow, Barney has got dark since I watched it last"

        Steven R

  9. Stuart Halliday

    Time to re-run that campaign to get Mr Spielberg to make T-Rex fluffy! It's only good science!

  10. Stuart Halliday

    Norwegian blue dinosaur anyone?

  11. NeilPost Silver badge

    #Boffins' again

    There are obviously no boffin;s at The Register, as you all sound dumb as shit calling scientists "boffin's" did you used to work for Fox News or the Daily Mail or something?

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