Unit 2: Evolution: 2.1.1 Fossil Feather Colors

A team of paleontologists led by Michael Benton of the University of Bristol, UK, and Zhonghe Zhou of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing has discovered ancient color-producing sacs in fossilized feathers from the Jehol site in northeastern China that are more than 100 million years old.

A team of paleontologists led by Michael Benton of the University of Bristol, UK, and Zhonghe Zhou of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing has discovered ancient color-producing sacs in fossilized feathers from the Jehol site in northeastern China that are more than 100 million years old.

A team of paleontologists led by Michael Benton of the University of Bristol, UK, and Zhonghe Zhou of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing has discovered ancient color-producing sacs in fossilized feathers from the Jehol site in northeastern China that are more than 100 million years old.

The team discovered the melanosomes in fossils of the suborder Theropoda, the branch of the dinosaur family tree to which the flesh-eating Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus belong.

However, it was not in these two iconic dinosaurs that the organelles were found, but in smaller species that ran around low to the ground with tiny feathers or bristles distributed across their bodies.

However, it was not in these two iconic dinosaurs that the organelles were found, but in smaller species that ran around low to the ground with tiny feathers or bristles distributed across their bodies.

However, it was not in these two iconic dinosaurs that the organelles were found, but in smaller species that ran around low to the ground with tiny feathers or bristles distributed across their bodies.

The team discovered two types of melanosome buried within the structure of the fossil feathers: sausage-shaped organelles that are seen today in the black stripes of zebras and the black masks of cardinal birds, and spherical organelles, which make and store the pigment that creates the rusty reds of red-tailed hawks and red human hair.

The team discovered two types of melanosome buried within the structure of the fossil feathers: sausage-shaped organelles that are seen today in the black stripes of zebras and the black masks of cardinal birds, and spherical organelles, which make and store the pigment that creates the rusty reds of red-tailed hawks and red human hair.

Using this information, scientists can deduce that one theropod dinosaur, Sinosauropteryx, a compsognathid dinosaur, likely had light and dark feathered stripes along the length of its tail.