Dinosaur feather colours identified by UCD researcher

1 Feb 2010 11:18 AM

The colour of dinosaur feathers - something that was the source of scientific speculation only up to now - has been confirmed by Paddy Orr, UCD School of Geological Sciences, working with scientific colleagues in Britain and China.

Reporting in the journal Nature, the international team found that the theropod dinosaur, Sinosauropteryx, had simple bristles, the forerunner of feathers, in alternate orange and white rings that ran down to its tail.

It was also reported that the early bird, Confuciusomis, had patches of white, black and orange-brown colouring. Further work, the team stated, should identify more precise colours and patterns on the ancient bird.

The key to the findings was the close study of dinosaur melanosomes - colour-bearing organelles buried within the structure of the ancient dinosaur bristles. Since melanosomes are an integral part of the ultra tough structure of the feather, they can survive when a feather survives, - even for hundreds of millions of years.

Researchers believe these findings help confirm that modern birds evolved from dinosaurs over a period of about 50 million years - during the geological time periods called the Jurassic and the Cretaceous.

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