Posted on 04/15/2017 2:35:43 PM PDT by ETL
Its a discovery that's straight out of Jurassic Park. Scientists have found a tiny section of a dinosaurs tail trapped in amber, and not only that, it has feathers.
Dating to about 99 million years ago, or the mid-Cretaceous period, the amber containing the eight dinosaur vertebrae originally came from Myanmar. While scientists have known since 1996 that some non-avian dinosaurs had feathers, and even suspected that fact 10 years before that, this new find can teach them more about how feathers have evolved over millions of years. The feathered tail in question came from a juvenile dinosaur, likely a small coelurosaur.
"The new material preserves a tail consisting of eight vertebrae from a juvenile; these are surrounded by feathers that are preserved in 3D and with microscopic detail," Ryan McKellar of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada, said in a statement. He said the tail "was long and flexible, with keels of feathers running down each side." McKellar is a coauthor on a new study describing the discovery.
The find shows the feathers barbs, and the microscopic barbules on them, in incredible detail; the feathers dont have a well-defined central shaft, or rachis, a fact that tells scientists more about feather evolution. The top part of the tail was darker-- a chestnut brown-- than its underside. The amber even contains remains of soft tissues that have carbonized.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
When I was growing up, there was a 97% scientific consensus that all dinosaurs were reptiles.
Also...continents didn’t move.
Thanks. Now, can you explain what my Neanderthal ex-husband evolved from?
*SMIRK*
I think they’re headed the other way!
Not evolved from, but a common ancestor. Also, populations of an organism can become isolated and mutations for that population can occur over time to create genetic change. The original population can stay relatively unchanged.
Remember these old bumper stickers?
Stop Plate Tectonics, Now!
At least some they believe were warm blooded. I don’t think all.
I sure hope someone can clone it!
When I was growing up, the earth was still mostly molten. :)
Because we have Chicago thugs still evolving?
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There’s proof that they’re evolving? Into what? It ain’t gonna be human.
I think these days birds are considered to be dinosaurs. The asteroid didn’t kill them all.
Humans didn’t evolve from monkeys. Both monkeys and humans evolved from a common ancestor. But I assume you were being sarcastic.
Since you brought up cloning, this article was also at the source.
Feb 2016
20 years after Dolly the sheep, what have we learned about cloning?
Evolution isn’t linear, it is branching. If dogs came from wolves, why do we still have wolves? Same answer.
****But, if humans evolved from monkeys...why do we still have monkeys? ;)*****
I suspect you are joking - but it illustrates how we have tampered with dogs who were/are related to wolves. Wolves still look like wolves, but our canines vary in size, fur, features etc., that an alien would believe they are separate species.
Ancient native American petroglyph of "thunderbird" - feathered dinosaur?
ESP LOLOL!!!!
An addition to my last post. Apes are more distant relatives to humans than wolves and dogs. The last common ancestor between humans and the great apes lived some seven million years ago. We are actually quite different although genetically “related” in that no other animal is as close.
A huge tyrannosaurus ate our lawyer
Well, I suppose that proves
they’re really not all bad
Jurassic Park is frightning in the dark
All the dinosaurs are running wild
Someone let T. Rex out of his pen
I’m afraid those things’ll harm me
‘Cause they sure don’t act like Barney
And they think that I’m their dinner, not their friend
Oh no
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