Many feathered dinosaurs couldn’t fly — at least, not like birds do today. But the reptiles’ feathers may have been more birdlike than scientists thought.
Yet fossilization can change feather proteins, making one keratin protein resemble another, researchers report in the October Nature Ecology & Evolution. The team also presented their findings on October 19 at the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology’s annual meeting in Cincinnati.
The study raises the possibility that dinosaur feathers may have mainly contained the beta-keratin proteins found in bird feathers. While such a finding would not imply all feathered dinosaurs flew, it does raise new questions about feather evolution.
The work also gives scientists valuable insight into one way the fossil record may transform over time, says Julia Clarke, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Texas at Austin who was not involved in the new research. “There’s still a lot more to discover about the process of chemical alteration that all structures undergo during the process of rock formation, liquification and burial,” she says.
2023-10-25 06:00:00
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