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What color were the dinosaurs?
Live Science ^ | 04/25/2022 | Ashley Hamer

Posted on 04/25/2022 12:04:12 PM PDT by BenLurkin

Once you know the shape of the melanosomes in a fossil, you can learn all sorts of things about the animal. For example, some dinosaurs with fearsome reputations were incredibly showy.

"Many of the close relatives of Velociraptor — you know, that was chasing the kids around in the kitchen [in "Jurassic Park"]?" Vinther said. "First of all, that was covered in feathers. It was really bird-like, not like this naked thing that we see there. But furthermore, most of the relatives that we looked at that were close to it, they were iridescent. So they would have had a metallic sheen, like hummingbirds or peacocks."

Other dinosaurs had complex camouflage. The first dinosaur Vinther ever studied was a small, bird-like animal called Anchiornis. Based on the melanosomes, Vinther and his team concluded that it had a gray body, white wing feathers with black splotches at the tips and a red crown like a woodpecker's.

Another dinosaur called Sinosauropteryx — the first dinosaur to be discovered with feathers — had a striped tail and a bandit mask, sort of like a raccoon. It also had countershading, a kind of natural camouflage in which the parts of an animal that would usually be in shadow have a lighter pigment than the parts that would usually be in sunlight. A classic example of this is the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), which has a white belly and a brown backside.

This coloring tells scientists about the creatures' habitat; if the countershading is sharp and high on the body, as it was in Sinosauropteryx, the animal probably lives out in the open. Countershading that's more gradual and low on the body suggests a forest environment where the light is more diffuse.

Camouflage also distinguishes predators from prey.

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: anchiornis; ancientautopsies; ashleyhamer; dinosaurs; feathers; godsgravesglyphs; odocoileus; paleontology; sinosauropteryx; velociraptor; virginianus
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1 posted on 04/25/2022 12:04:12 PM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: SunkenCiv

ping


2 posted on 04/25/2022 12:04:28 PM PDT by BenLurkin ((The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire. Or both.))
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To: BenLurkin; SunkenCiv

Racists!.................


3 posted on 04/25/2022 12:05:15 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: BenLurkin

Always with the race card. #bdm=black dinosaurs matter..


4 posted on 04/25/2022 12:06:17 PM PDT by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this? 😕)
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To: BenLurkin

Many state that dinosaurs were more closely related to birds than reptiles. Maybe there were both and something completely unrelated. I think we need to get some DNA and make a Jurassic Park...


5 posted on 04/25/2022 12:06:33 PM PDT by EEGator
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To: BenLurkin

Yeah sure.... Covered in feathers.


6 posted on 04/25/2022 12:08:22 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: BenLurkin
> What color were the dinosaurs? <

I’ll field that one, as I saw a documentary about dinosaurs that years ago. They were yellow, purple, and green.


7 posted on 04/25/2022 12:09:37 PM PDT by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: EEGator
I was thinking that if these scientists provide solid descriptions, then CGI would be used to give new “skins” to the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park which gives them the colorful feathers to which they are due.

Much like new “skins” in video games. Gotta believe it couldn't be too hard to do.

8 posted on 04/25/2022 12:09:39 PM PDT by BenLurkin ((The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire. Or both.))
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To: BenLurkin

Purple. Duh!


9 posted on 04/25/2022 12:09:57 PM PDT by calenel (Undo the Coup)
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To: BenLurkin

depends on what neighborhood they lived in...


10 posted on 04/25/2022 12:10:18 PM PDT by heavy metal (smiling improves your face value and makes people wonder what the hell you're up to... 😁)
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To: BenLurkin

11 posted on 04/25/2022 12:10:21 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic...)
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To: BenLurkin

What a racist question.

L


12 posted on 04/25/2022 12:10:33 PM PDT by Lurker (Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: BenLurkin
What color were the dinosaurs?

Ask Biden and Bernie. They were there.

13 posted on 04/25/2022 12:11:06 PM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: BenLurkin

Only the black ones mattered.


14 posted on 04/25/2022 12:11:08 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (It's hard to "Believe all women" when judges say "I don't know what a woman is".)
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To: BenLurkin

One interesting theory is that we have the T-Rex’s arms wrong. The theory goes that his arms were actually wings, like an ostrich.


15 posted on 04/25/2022 12:12:21 PM PDT by Jonty30 (I did not shoot the burglar. I pointed a laser dot on his head and let the cats do the rest. )
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To: BenLurkin

bkmk


16 posted on 04/25/2022 12:12:23 PM PDT by sauropod ("We put all our politicians in prison as soon as they are elected. Don’t you?" Why? "It saves time.”)
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To: ClearCase_guy

BDM?


17 posted on 04/25/2022 12:13:40 PM PDT by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave)
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To: Leaning Right

I am thankful that my kids were older when Barney became mainstream. I’d have shot myself had they not been.


18 posted on 04/25/2022 12:15:00 PM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: Jonty30

“The theory goes that his arms were actually wings, like an ostrich”

Well, that would explain why ostriches have such a bad attitude.


19 posted on 04/25/2022 12:15:19 PM PDT by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave)
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To: BenLurkin

I am more interested in the content of their character.


20 posted on 04/25/2022 12:17:45 PM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog. )
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