By: Jessica Jin
Using Pterosaur fossils, scientists were able to determine that the ancient creatures had different colored feathers. This is an important discovery because it allowed scientist to realize that feathers originated 250 million years ago, 100 years earlier than previously believed.
Pterosaurs are flying reptiles, not dinosaurs. Pterosaurs often get mixed up as a dinosaur because they did indeed live among them and went extinct around the same time. What makes Pterosaurs different from dinosaurs is that dinosaurs have holes in their hip sockets. Pterosaurs don’t have these holes, but they do have hollow bones, which helps them stay lighter to fly. Dinosaurs have solid bones.
Tupandactylus (a species of Pterosaurs) is the reason for scientists finding out that the species had feathers. Animals in Tupandactylus had an enormous head crest. Underneath the fossilized crest, Professor Maraia McNamara and her team from University College Cork (UCC) found short fuzzy feathers. These was accompanied with branched feathers that were fluffy and short wiry hair feathers.
After discovering they had feathers, scientists then discovered that the Pterosaurs, most likely, could change the color of thir feathers. They knew this because they saw that the Pterosaurs had many different melanosome (a kind of cell) shapes. The color of modern birds’ feathers are strongly connected to melanosome shape. Since the Ptserosaur had so many different melanosome shape variations, it must be able to control its color.
By studying the fossils, scientists were able to figure out so many things about these ancient creatures.
Bibliography
University College Cork, Pterosaur Discovery Solves Ancient Feather Mystery: Flying Reptiles Could Change the Color of Their Feathers,
SciTechDaily, Pterosaur Discovery Solves Ancient Feather Mystery: Flying Reptiles Could Change the Color of Their Feathers (scitechdaily.com),6/24/2022
By Carolyn Gramling, Bright-colored feathers may have topped pterosaurs’ heads, ScienceNewsforStudents, Bright-colored feathers may have topped pterosaurs’ heads _ Science News for Students.pdf, 6/24/2022