Friday, November 14, 2008

Bad Pigeon


Here’s the latest, coolest discovery in the world of feathered dinosaurs. Epidexipteryx hui was a pigeon-sized dinosaur that lived in what is now Daohugou, Inner Mongolia during the Mid-Late Jurassic (152-168 million years ago). This animal could not fly, but its body was covered with downy feathers. Check out that tail!

The tail is made up of four feathers that extend beyond the end of the tail bones. The feathers are not as sophisticated as the feathers of modern birds, but they do consist of a central shaft and un-branched vanes. The October 23, 2008 issue of the journal Nature has exquisite photographs of the tail feather fossils. I’m sorry I can’t include those pictures or a link on this blog. Scientists speculate the tail may have been used in courtship rituals.

Don’t let this pigeon drive the bus.

The scientific article is:
F. Zhang, Z. Zhou, X. Xu, S. Wang and C. Sulllivan, A Bizarre Jurassic Maniraptoran from China, Nature, 455:1105 (2008).
Also see Live Science.

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