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.
We can rebuild them. We have the technology.
That is, in fact, cool.
this is so new I haven't had it in my avatar for weeks...
Edit: Timmy seems abnormally weird today...
If you don't explaining it, we cant know Viking.
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.
Oh, even them gave up on me a long time ago.
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
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biggreenbookshop.com%2Fimages%2Fuploads%2FTimUKJacket.jpg&hash=9e0fe9c34d32a8d468dcb7192d75d51e48f48c82)
Quote from: Syt on February 05, 2010, 08:28:18 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biggreenbookshop.com%2Fimages%2Fuploads%2FTimUKJacket.jpg&hash=9e0fe9c34d32a8d468dcb7192d75d51e48f48c82)
Needs more feathers....
This is good, very interesting finds. :cool:
Scribes ARE allowed!
BTW, Viking, your avatar's got the right pigments, but it's anybody's guess what the pattern was.
looks lie a god awful ugly bird. i prefer my dinosaurs more lizard like and less bird like
They'll have to redo the Jurassic Park, now.
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.
That's a pretty lame looking 'dinosaur'. I bet it couldn't even fly a jet plane.
Its a magpie :o