THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2011

Feathers are postulated to have evolved in a series of five stages, beginning as a simple filament and then gaining complexity by the addition of barbs and smaller barbules.
The samples in this study were found to encompass a range of evolutionary stages: some are early protofeathers, which are likely to have had important non-ornamental functions, such as thermoregulation and protection. Other feathers are highly complex and appear to be adapted to different functions; some may have enabled flight, and some are most likely associated with diving behaviour as they resemble those of the modern Grebe.
The findings suggest that a wide range of evolutionary stages were present in the Late Cretaceous, and that feathers already served a range of functions at that time, making dinosaurs less drab and scaly than was previously thought.
Written by Catherine Moir