I am saddened that we will probably never know about not only all the cool colors and feathers that dinosaurs had, but also the various fleshy structures that they also probably had.
We do, actually! Recent research proved there are melanosomes in some fossils/imprints, which were previously thought to be bacteria. This gives us a fairly good idea of the colouring of certain species. Check out this sinosauropteryx:
I highly recommend reading the book Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World. It’s fun to read, has amazing illustrations and was written by one of the people who discovered this.
Feathers, but very simple filament-like ones. Remember - feathers haven’t evolved for flight. No idea how cuddly they were (you’d have to ask a paleontologist), but I’m just going to assume “extremely”.
Composition? I tried googling it. Found an article which says that while hair is made of keratin, feathers are also made of keratin, but the keratin is different.
¯\_(ツ)_¯
Maybe someone who knows what they are talking about will chime in. I am not that person.
I like feathered dinosaurs. I like imagining them being very colorful!
Fun fact, they’ve done studies searching for pigments and found that dinosaur eggs, at least, were colorful like modern bird eggs.
I am saddened that we will probably never know about not only all the cool colors and feathers that dinosaurs had, but also the various fleshy structures that they also probably had.
We do, actually! Recent research proved there are melanosomes in some fossils/imprints, which were previously thought to be bacteria. This gives us a fairly good idea of the colouring of certain species. Check out this sinosauropteryx:
I highly recommend reading the book Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World. It’s fun to read, has amazing illustrations and was written by one of the people who discovered this.
The author of this book, Professor Benton has done talks on this https://youtu.be/ICzc8D0zQC0
This is what I imagine an owlbear looked like
Aww, he is so cute. What a good boy.
That is so cool!
That guy looks fren shaped.
You want fren shaped? Check out this cutie!
Half moth, half frog, half cheetah!
Mogtah? Cheemog?
Dope, I’m adding this to my reading list!
Just ordered the book. Thank you!
Wait
Is that fur?
Feathers, but very simple filament-like ones. Remember - feathers haven’t evolved for flight. No idea how cuddly they were (you’d have to ask a paleontologist), but I’m just going to assume “extremely”.
What’s the difference between simple filament like feathers and hair?
I imagine it’s rather like bird hatchling down, which is very structurally basic, and if so, it’s very brittle, and makes for a lot of dust.
Composition? I tried googling it. Found an article which says that while hair is made of keratin, feathers are also made of keratin, but the keratin is different.
¯\_(ツ)_¯
Maybe someone who knows what they are talking about will chime in. I am not that person.
Thanks for the clarification!