The Iridescent Feathers of Microraptor
Published:
It has been discovered that the Early Cretaceous feathered dinosaur Microraptor was covered in iridescent feathers.
Microraptor was a small dinosaur that lived in Liaoning Province, China, 120 million years ago. It had feathers on all four limbs and is thought to have glided from tree to tree.
Observation of the fossilized feathers under an electron microscope revealed that a substance containing melanin, which produces black and gray colors, had a distinct elongated shape.
The findings, published in the journal "Science," suggest that it had "glossy, black feathers."
Like a crow, Microraptor's feathers likely "shimmered with a black to dark-blue hue in the sunlight."