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[ElRenoRaven]

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/most-dinosaurs-were-probably-scaly-not-feathered

Over the past few years, we’ve heard gathering evidence that dinosaurs were not the cold-blooded, scaly-skinned beasts of the past, but fluffy, feathered, and brightly colored. Well, a new study published in Biology Letters seems to suggest that they might have been more right to begin with, and that most dinosaurs probably didn’t have feathers.

By examining the fossil record of dinosaur skin impressions preserved in rock, researchers from the Natural History Museum, London, have concluded that feathers were far less prevalent than previously believed. Whilst they certainly covered many of the carnivorous dinosaurs, such as velociraptors and tyrannosaurus, the suggestion that some of the larger herbivores were also clad in downy feathers is probably wrong.

Most of our analyses provide no support for the appearance of feathers in the majority of non-avian dinosaurs,” says Professor Paul Barrett, who co-authored the study. “Although many meat-eating dinosaurs were feathered, the majority of other dinosaurs, including the ancestor of all dinosaurs, were probably scaly.”

Yes Yes Yes!!! Scales for life! Granted they do agree some meat eaters were.

 

[knkng]

The way it should be.

 

[TheWrathOfSean]

Now lets have them all dragging their tails again, and I'll be all set!

 

[BossLackey]

Damn right.

 

[b&jy77VjiKn$#F]

Lol amazing

 

[Red Mage]

Yay! Death to Chicken-Rex!

 

[Admiral Woofington]

You cannot stare at the eyes of an ostrich And not see the bloodlust of a velociraptor. I call shenanigans science!

 

[The Llama]

Death to feathers!

 

[sixteen-bit]

Jurassic Park redeemed

 

[Senoculum]

Which is it science???? I already tore down my scaly dinosaur decals for some feathery ones. Back to square one.

 

[Anoregon]

Jurassic World marketing budget being put to good use.

 

[Graphics Horse]

Pls read

"Whilst [feathers] certainly covered many of the carnivorous dinosaurs, such as velociraptors and tyrannosaurus"

 

[Anton Sugar]

Whilst they certainly covered many of the carnivorous dinosaurs, such as velociraptors and tyrannosaurus, the suggestion that some of the larger herbivores were also clad in downy feathers is probably wrong.

Suck it, feather haters. We all know that THIS is what you want to be false.

 

[Kainazzo]

Haven't all dinosaurs we've identified as being feathered come from the Cretaceous? Seeing as none from the Triassic or Jurassic have had them, I thought the common opinion was that "most" were scaly already.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

No one outside of super speculative artists thought they were all feathered. This is nothing new.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

I do like feather or quill accents like the raptors in JP3. Gives them flair and character.

On Jurassic and Triassic dinosaurs that is. Looks like more Cretaceous ones were totally feathered.

 

[Ahasverus]

I so hate it when science is wrong.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Suck it, feather haters. We all know that THIS is what you want to be false.

True but this is a start. Just you wait. before you know it they'll discover they were wrong on T-rex and raptors too. This is only the beginning feather lovers. lol

 

[Omegasquash]

Yay! Death to Chicken-Rex!

It notes that Tyrannosaurus probably had feathers. Chicken-Rex lives.

 

[Arcia]

lol So many of you only read the thread title. Most of the raptors and carnivorous dinosaurs are still believed to have had feathers, just not herbivores.

So chicken Rex IS still a thing

 

[Peru]

Again most of us have maintained that all dinosaurs were not feathered but that some without a doubt were. Like raptors. This changes nothing and should, if anything, make it easier for people to accept feathers in modern representation of dinosaurs, since so many of the big old dinos won't have them and the ones that do look cool with them anyway.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Haven't all dinosaurs we've identified as being feathered come from the Cretaceous? Seeing as none from the Triassic or Jurassic have had them, I thought the common opinion was that "most" were scaly already.

Archaeopteryx is from the Jurassic and it's most certainly feathered.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I'm at peace with this.

 

[Anton Sugar]

True but this is a start. Just you wait. before you know it they'll discover they were wrong on T-rex and raptors too. This is only the beginning feather lovers. lol

 

[Stinkles]

All of our favorites were fabulous.

 

[PreFire]

I thought feathers rarely (if ever) fossilize or make impressions on rocks?

I wonder what made some dinosaurs exclusive to having feathers if this is true.

 

[SigmasonicX]

Well, yeah. This is what people generally assumed: many two-legged carnivores had feathers, most four-legged herbivores did not have feathers.

The only thing new is the clickbait title.

 

[Kainazzo]

Archaeopteryx is from the Jurassic and it's most certainly feathered.

Ha, it is. I keep forgetting if Tithonian was late Jurassic or early Cretaceous. Thanks!

 

[Guevara]

Most dinosaurs were scaled

Yes!​

Not your favorites, though.

.....​

 

[Red Mage]

It notes that Tyrannosaurus probably had feathers. Chicken-Rex lives.

I realized that after the fact. *sigh* T-Rex still no longer cool.

 

[Omegasquash]

I like this lots. I don't know why.

 

[lamaroo]

I thought we knew most of the big, four legged Dino's weren't feathered, which would make up the majority.

 

[RyanardoDaVinci]

I just can't accept a fully grown and feathered T-Rex. My mind can't do it. It's too wrong.

I can imagine hatchling Rex's covered in soft, fluffy down; and juveniles fully or partially feathered -- but a 14ft tall, 35ft long, multi-ton Tyrannosaurus Rex with 90% of its body covered in feathers? Nope. Doesn't compute. Unable to process.

I will only accept a fully grown and feathered T-Rex when I can look upon a perfect clone of one with my own eyes.

 

[Ophelion]

I so hate it when science is wrong.

Nah, surely it was a scientist what made this proclamation. Science just decided to be a new kind of right. *nods enthusiastically*

 

[PreFire]

Lol wait.. So there are people genuinely upset because their favorite dinosaurs were supposedly.. Feathered? Lol what the hell?

It doesn't make them any less ferocious..

These reactions are pretty funny

 

[titiklabingapat]

I wasn't expecting full on clad feathers but quills here and there for the ceratopsiann would have been cool. On some sauropods, too. Those things still have armor and bladed tails, though right?

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

Checkmate atheists.

 

[Manu]

lol perfect.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Bullshit article is bullshit.

Feathers are found further and further back within the evolution of dinosaurs.

By examining the fossil record of dinosaur skin impressions preserved in rock, researchers from the Natural History Museum, London, have concluded that feathers were far less prevalent than previously believed.

For feathers to be preserved in rocks, they need to be in very special condition. We're known Ornithomimus since 1890. Feathers were only discovered around 2008 and announced in 2013 or 2014. Feathers might have fallen off after the animal died, or the fossilized area didn't have feathers. Just cause you have skin impression means very little.

Very few paleontologists believe Sauropods had feathers or filaments, so this is a moot point.

 

[Red Mage]

Lol wait.. So there are people genuinely upset because their favorite dinosaurs were supposedly.. Feathered? Lol what the hell?

It doesn't make them any less ferocious..

These reactions are pretty funny

My favorite wasn't feathered (Ankylosaurus)

However, when a Raptor ends up looking like Terry Goodkind's idea of the Manifestation of Evil, well...

 

[Omegasquash]

Ha. I don't know why I didn't actually look at the URL. Of COURSE it's IFL Science.

 

[SuperEpicGuy]

Feather covered T-rex? Wow, it's amazing how much we didn't know about dinosaurs at all. That would seem so weird.

 

[Plinko]

Bullshit article is bullshit.

Feathers are found further and further back within the evolution of dinosaurs.



For feathers to be preserved in rocks, they need to be in very special condition. We're known Ornithomimus since 1890. Feathers were only discovered around 2008 and announced in 2013 or 2014. Feathers might have fallen off after the animal died, or the fossilized area didn't have feathers. Just cause you have skin impression means very little.

Very few paleontologists believe Sauropods had feathers or filaments, so this is a moot point.

Here's the actual study link if you'd like to read it:

http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/6/20150229

 

[SigmasonicX]

Feathered T-rex that people seem to like:

Another thing to note is that this doesn't contradict the idea of "fat" dinosaurs or fleshy organs that wouldn't appear on fossils.

After all, here's what a cow would look like just based on the skeleton

 

[Anton Sugar]

I just can't accept a fully grown and feathered T-Rex. My mind can't do it. It's too wrong.

I can imagine hatchling Rex's covered in soft, fluffy down; and juveniles fully or partially feathered -- but a 14ft tall, 35ft long, multi-ton Tyrannosaurus Rex with 90% of its body covered in feathers? Nope. Doesn't compute. Unable to process.

I will only accept a fully grown and feathered T-Rex when I can look upon a perfect clone of one with my own eyes.

Feathered theropods are awesome, though.

 

[tcrunch]

Gonna post what I posted on another forum about this

-The authors do not contest the presence of feathers in Theropoda (JP terms: t-rex/raptors/gallimimus/etc)
-The authors contest the presence of true feathers or protofeathers in Ornithischia (stegosaur/ankylosaur/iguanodon/'ceratops) but do not contest that Orniths have developed other filamentous structures (as in Psittacosaurus or Tianyulong, ceratopsians for which we have skin impressions demonstrating these structures) - they're just saying these structures did not turn into the feathers of modern day birds
-They used pterosaurs as an outgroup. Pterosaurs aren't particularly scaly, and their own filamentous structures (pycnofiber hairs) probably developed independently of dinosaur feathering or other integumentary structures, as in the reason they developed those structures might have been completely different (related to their surface area issues and of course flight!)
-The paper mainly wanted to push forward the revolutionary idea that the ancestral dinosaur species were scaly, not feathered or featuring other special integument accessories
-Sedimentology has a strong effect on what is preserved, and many integument specimens cannot even be found (many complete fossils, as in just the BONES, cannot be found). This paper is a caution against overinterpretation (ex. when psittacosaurus was found, some people started going "well maybe they are all fuzzy")
-If you are curious about the sauropod group: there are some preserved embryos of one species with scaly skin
-This write-up of the paper assumes a LOT more than what the paper actually says, even from the first sentence.

Here's a listserv conversation about this work (pre-publication so not all data available) from way back in December 2013: http://dml.cmnh.org/2013Dec/msg00187.html

Here is the present conversation about the finished paper (but it doesn't say much yet): http://dml.cmnh.org/2015Jun/msg00015.html

PS

 

[Cow Mengde]

Here's the actual study link if you'd like to read it:

http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/6/20150229

I know, I read it.

This is the main issue with this study.

Caution is warranted as taphonomy controls the types of integumentary structures preserved in different taxa. Feather-like structures are most frequently preserved in low-energy environments and may have been lost in coarse-grained, high-energy settings, though rare feather-like structures are known from the latter [3]. No dinosaur skin impressions (except footprints) are known from the Late Triassic and they are rare from the Early–Middle Jurassic (electronic supplementary material, S1) periods when dinosaur-bearing lacustrine/lagoonal deposits are scarce. Hence, potential taphonomic windows for early dinosaur filaments/feathers are not available currently: new localities are needed to resolve whether early dinosaurs were scaled or feathered. Conversely, the exceptional preservation of coelurosaurs in Late Jurassic and Cretaceous lagerstätte might not be indicative of skin structures in earlier relatives.

He also forgot to factor Kulindadromeus into his research in feathered ornithischian dinosaurs. Kulindadromeus is a feathered ornithischian dinosaur from the Jurassic.

 

[spindashing]

PS

This is some Mario World shit

 

[Anton Sugar]

PS

That's fucking great.

 

[Black-Wind]

I really hated this lil "study" and now it shows up on Gaf ...

No one was saying they were all feathered. Maybe a few ARTIST depicted herbivores that way but when people complain about feathers its for the meat eaters.