New Feathered Dinosaur Kulindadromeus Discovered
Published:
A new species of dinosaur completely covered in feathers has been discovered in 160-million-year-old (Late Jurassic) strata in southeastern Siberia, Russia.
Named Kulindadromeus, this dinosaur is believed to belong to the early Ornithischia, not the Saurischia (-Theropoda) from which birds are descended.
Because of this, a research team from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and other institutions speculates that "perhaps almost all dinosaurs had feathers."
The discovery includes hundreds of fossils, including six skulls.
There were traces of bristle-like feathers about 1 cm long on the head and 2-3 cm long on the body.
Most feathered dinosaurs found to date belong to the [Saurischia-Theropoda] group.
Among ornithischians, feather-like structures were found on the tail of Psittacosaurus, a marginocephalian. However, this discovery of feather impressions in an early ornithischian has led to the inference that "dinosaurs may have had feathers even before they diverged into Saurischia and Ornithischia."