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Scientist Siscover Dinosaur's True Color

Started by jimmy olsen, February 04, 2010, 09:35:56 PM

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jimmy olsen

February 04, 2010, 09:35:56 PM Last Edit: February 04, 2010, 09:40:24 PM by jimmy olsen
Squee! :w00t:

Picture and article can be found here
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10447946-76.html

EDIT: An even better picture can be found here.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100127-dinosaurs-color-feathers-science/o/
QuoteFebruary 4, 2010 6:14 PM PST
Scientists discover dinosaur's true colors
by Jennifer Guevin

A team of paleontologists at Yale University say they've been able to determine the actual colors of an extinct species of dinosaur.

While many of the illustrations of dinosaurs we see in movies and books are striking, the truth is that much of the way we depict our jurassic friends is based on educated guesswork. But a few teams of scientists now say they have been able to determine a dinosaur's coloring with more precision. And one dino, in particular, has been color-mapped from head plume to toe.

Anchiornis huxleyi was a four-winged, feathered dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic period in China. And, according to researchers, it had a mostly gray body with black and white striped wings and a sweet orange mohawk atop its beaked (and toothy) head.

The team, led by Yale professor Richard Prum, analyzed melanosomes (the melanin-containing part of a cell that gives an animal its pigmentation) present in the entire fossil of one animal. That allowed them to determine color variations throughout the body--down to individual feathers.

The breakthrough came thanks to Yale graduate student Jakob Vinther, who discovered that tiny granules previously thought to be bacteria were actually melanosomes. After analyzing the melanosomes present in the fossil, the team was able to compare that data with the types of melanosomes known to create particular colors in modern-day birds.

And what did Anchiornis huxleyi do with those flashy feathers? It didn't fly, they say. Rather, the feathers were likely used as camouflage or to attract mates.

The team's report appears in Thursday's issue of the journal Science. It follows a related study of the same animal conducted by colleagues in China who helped identify two of the melanosomes present in the fossil record.
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Jaron

#1
February 04, 2010, 10:00:25 PM
We can rebuild them. We have the technology.
Winner of THE grumbler point.

Barrister

#2
February 04, 2010, 10:06:47 PM
That is, in fact, cool.
Posts here are my own private opinions.  I do not speak for my employer.

Viking

#3
February 05, 2010, 07:17:47 AM Last Edit: February 05, 2010, 07:22:54 AM by Viking
this is so new I haven't had it in my avatar for weeks...

Edit: Timmy seems abnormally weird today...
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

Grey Fox

#4
February 05, 2010, 07:44:57 AM
If you don't explaining it, we cant know Viking.
Colonel Caliga is Awesome.

Viking

#5
February 05, 2010, 07:47:38 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on February 05, 2010, 07:44:57 AM
If you don't explaining it, we cant know Viking.

I narced you to the grammar nazis.
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

Grey Fox

#6
February 05, 2010, 07:50:48 AM
Oh, even them gave up on me a long time ago.
Colonel Caliga is Awesome.

Viking

#7
February 05, 2010, 07:52:28 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on February 05, 2010, 07:50:48 AM
Oh, even them gave up on me a long time ago.

I may be time to re-open Grammar-Belsen
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

Syt

#8
February 05, 2010, 08:28:18 AM
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

Viking

#9
February 05, 2010, 08:30:45 AM
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

KRonn

#10
February 05, 2010, 08:50:14 AM
This is good, very interesting finds.    :cool:

Scribes ARE allowed!

DontSayBanana

#11
February 05, 2010, 11:11:24 AM
BTW, Viking, your avatar's got the right pigments, but it's anybody's guess what the pattern was.
Experience bij!

HVC

#12
February 05, 2010, 11:13:00 AM
looks lie a god awful ugly bird. i prefer my dinosaurs more lizard like and less bird like
Being lazy is bad; unless you still get what you want, then it's called "patience".
Hubris must be punished. Severely.

viper37

#13
February 05, 2010, 11:16:39 AM
They'll have to redo the Jurassic Park, now.
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

If Microsoft Excel decided to stop working overnight, the world would practically end.

Viking

#14
February 05, 2010, 11:20:59 AM
Quote from: DontSayBanana on February 05, 2010, 11:11:24 AM
BTW, Viking, your avatar's got the right pigments, but it's anybody's guess what the pattern was.

I got it from a story on the precisely the same issue from about a month ago.
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.
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