THE first unequivocal example of a dinosaur with fully formed feathers has been uncovered. The find supports the contentious idea that feathers evolved before they were exploited for flight.
A team of Chinese palaeontologists unearthed the creature, which they have dubbed BPM 1 3-13, in the famous Jiufotang rock formations at Shangheshou, near the town of Chaoyang. The pheasant-sized animal had feathers all over its body, the best-preserved being on its legs and the end of its long tail, says palaeontologist Mark Norell of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
The fossil has “unequivocally modern feathers, with…
