Gallery: Spectacularly Preserved Fossil Suggests Most Dinosaurs Were Feathered
01sciurumimus-albersoerferi
The discovery of a fantastically preserved, bushy-tailed fossil theropod has cloaked the dinosaur world in feathers. Named *Sciurumimus* -- Latin for "squirrel-mimic" -- *albersdoerferi*, the dinosaur lived 150 million years ago in what is now Germany. When it died, it came to rest in sediments so fine-grained that they preserved an almost photographic impression of the filaments covering its body. Other feathered theropods, the taxonomic clade including all two-legged dinosaurs and their bird descendants, have been found previously, inspiring [fantastic artist renditions](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/dinosaur-fossil-reveals-true-feather-colors/) and speculation that plumes rather than scales were the dinosaur norm. Those fossils, however, belonged to a relative latecomer group known as coelurosaurs. Whether most theropods were feathered, or just a few recent evolutionary offshoots, was an open question. The new fossil find, described July 3 in *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* and led by paleontologist Oliver Rauhut of Germany's Ludwig Maximilian University, gives a resounding answer. Compared to the coelurosaurs, *S. albersdoerferi* was "significantly more basal in the evolutionary tree of theropods," or a trunk rather than a branch, wrote Rauhut and colleagues. If it had feathers, so did the rest of the theropods. The plumage didn't end there. Other paleontologists have found [feathers in beaked, quadrupedal dinosaurs](http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/tmp/papers/gmayr43.pdf). Combine those observations with *S. albersdoerferi*'s taxonomic significance, and "a filamentous body covering obviously represents the plesiomorphic state for dinosaurs in general," wrote Rauhut's team. Plesiomorphic is another way of saying "ancestrally typical." In short, it was feathers all the way down. __Above:__ The Fossil ---------- Feathers aside, *S. albersdoerferi* is one of the most beautifully preserved dinosaurs in existence. On the following pages are photographs of the fossil. *Image: H. Tischlinger/Jura Museum Eichstätt* *Citation: "Exceptionally preserved juvenile megalosauroid theropod dinosaur with filamentous integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany." By Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Christian Foth, Helmut Tischlinger, and Mark A. Norell. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109 No. 27, July 3, 2012.*
02skull
Skull ----- Skull under ultraviolet light. Though named after a squirrel, *S. albersdoerferi* was carnivorous and large: Just a juvenile, this skeleton was 28 inches long. Full-grown, it would probably have been 20 feet long from nose to tail. *Image: Rauhut et al./PNAS* *Citation: "Exceptionally preserved juvenile megalosauroid theropod dinosaur with filamentous integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany." By Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Christian Foth, Helmut Tischlinger, and Mark A. Norell. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109 No. 27, July 3, 2012.*
03skin
Skin ---- Under ultraviolet light, fossilized bone glows green and soft tissue glows yellow. In this section of *S. albersdoerferi*'s tail, the yellow area represents a patch of skin. *Image: Rauhut et al./PNAS* *Citation: "Exceptionally preserved juvenile megalosauroid theropod dinosaur with filamentous integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany." By Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Christian Foth, Helmut Tischlinger, and Mark A. Norell. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109 No. 27, July 3, 2012.*
04feathers
Feathers -------- Long, fine filaments at the tail's base. Unlike stereotypical modern bird feathers, which are optimized for flight, early dinosaur feathers likely served as insulation. *Image: Rauhut et al./PNAS* *Citation: "Exceptionally preserved juvenile megalosauroid theropod dinosaur with filamentous integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany." By Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Christian Foth, Helmut Tischlinger, and Mark A. Norell. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109 No. 27, July 3, 2012.*
05follicles
Follicles --------- Magnified section of *S. albersdoerferi*'s ridged back shows what appear to be follicles anchoring the feathers. *Image: Rauhut et al./PNAS* *Citation: "Exceptionally preserved juvenile megalosauroid theropod dinosaur with filamentous integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany." By Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Christian Foth, Helmut Tischlinger, and Mark A. Norell. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109 No. 27, July 3, 2012.*
06forelimb
Forelimb -------- *S. albersdoerferi* forelimb under ultraviolet light. *Image: Rauhut et al./PNAS* *Citation: "Exceptionally preserved juvenile megalosauroid theropod dinosaur with filamentous integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany." By Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Christian Foth, Helmut Tischlinger, and Mark A. Norell. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109 No. 27, July 3, 2012.*
07teeth
Teeth ----- Serrations in *S. albersdoerferi*'s teeth testify to the skeleton's exceptional preservation. *Image: Rauhut et al./PNAS* *Citation: "Exceptionally preserved juvenile megalosauroid theropod dinosaur with filamentous integument from the Late Jurassic of Germany." By Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Christian Foth, Helmut Tischlinger, and Mark A. Norell. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109 No. 27, July 3, 2012.*
