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[Mermandala]

Feathered T.REX

(shown here with guitar)

 

[Mysterious]

Except raptors and T-rexes, the two most people consider to be the most bad-ass.

Utahraptor right? Not velociraptor, which wasn't badass at all.

 

[kamakazi5]

I thought that most saurischians were feathered while ornithischians were not?

 

[Kuros]

Cassowary (Probably about as close to a modern day dino as there is on Earth)

Cassowary Skeleton

 

[Dagobert Duck]

Just googled feather t-rex and I'm now highly disturbed

LOL looks more like grey hair...Grandma Trex askes random bystanders: Could you help me with my groceries? My arms are too short for anything actually....like my back is itching, what can i do about it...

I guess we will never know how they exactly looked like, just deal with it, Science will never go this far....or will it???

 

[Fuu]

Some great stuff in this thread, I hadn't thought about how wrongly our current animals would turn out if recreated under the same logic we used to apply to dinosaur fossils.

And that Chicken T-Rex on the first page is fantastic.

 

[Downhome]

I'm going to wait until that crazy-(literally)hot lady who is all anti-dinos weighs in on this one.

 

[Subitai]

Gonna post what I posted on another forum about this

-The authors do not contest the presence of feathers in Theropoda (JP terms: t-rex/raptors/gallimimus/etc)
-The authors contest the presence of true feathers or protofeathers in Ornithischia (stegosaur/ankylosaur/iguanodon/'ceratops) but do not contest that Orniths have developed other filamentous structures (as in Psittacosaurus or Tianyulong, ceratopsians for which we have skin impressions demonstrating these structures) - they're just saying these structures did not turn into the feathers of modern day birds
-They used pterosaurs as an outgroup. Pterosaurs aren't particularly scaly, and their own filamentous structures (pycnofiber hairs) probably developed independently of dinosaur feathering or other integumentary structures, as in the reason they developed those structures might have been completely different (related to their surface area issues and of course flight!)
-The paper mainly wanted to push forward the revolutionary idea that the ancestral dinosaur species were scaly, not feathered or featuring other special integument accessories
-Sedimentology has a strong effect on what is preserved, and many integument specimens cannot even be found (many complete fossils, as in just the BONES, cannot be found). This paper is a caution against overinterpretation (ex. when psittacosaurus was found, some people started going "well maybe they are all fuzzy")
-If you are curious about the sauropod group: there are some preserved embryos of one species with scaly skin
-This write-up of the paper assumes a LOT more than what the paper actually says, even from the first sentence.

Here's a listserv conversation about this work (pre-publication so not all data available) from way back in December 2013: http://dml.cmnh.org/2013Dec/msg00187.html

Here is the present conversation about the finished paper (but it doesn't say much yet): http://dml.cmnh.org/2015Jun/msg00015.html

PS

Came for this again.

Thx!

 

[akira28]

Yay! Death to Chicken-Rex!

they just said the rex was covered in feathers. Covered. In feathers. Feathers. Delicious cajun spices.

 

[shinobi602]

The super strong contentions on both sides of "feathers and dinosaurs" is fascinating to me. The hostility, the passion, the vitriol...truly fascinating that so many care that much.

 

[Subitai]

The super strong contentions on both sides of "feathers and dinosaurs" is fascinating to me. The hostility, the passion, the vitriol...truly fascinating that so many care that much.

Don't mess with people's childhoods man.

 

[MrCunningham]

No one outside of super speculative artists thought they were all feathered. This is nothing new.

Indeed. It makes sense, really.

 

[BorkBork]

There's a feathers video in the Dinosaur GAF thread that explains most of this in terms of percentages of feathers for different classes. This isn't super surprising.

 

[jackal27]

If I could snuggle this Big Boy, my life would be complete. Somebody just hurry up and make some dinosaurs already.

 

[Hackworth]

You cannot stare at the eyes of an ostrich And not see the bloodlust of a velociraptor. I call shenanigans science!

Cassowary, meng. They're terrifying.

 

[Kuros]

Cassowary, meng. They're terrifying.

They're actually pretty docile and can be seen wandering around beaches with people on them. Best to just leave them alone though as if they decide to go for you you need to run really fucking fast.

Most of the YouTube vids of them going mental are when they've been provoked. Not to be messed with however.

 

[Toxi]

Cassowaries even sound like stereotypical dinosaurs..

 

[TheRedSnifit]

PS

So basically, dinosaurs aren't cool anymore. Thanks science.

 

[Toxi]

So basically, dinosaurs aren't cool anymore. Thanks science.

I still can't believe someone can look at a 40 foot long 7 ton carnivore with a mouth full of teeth the size of bananas and say "it's not cool because it's probably fluffy".

 

[Toa TAK]

So basically, dinosaurs aren't cool anymore. Thanks science.

I don't get this mentality at all.

 

[Gr1mLock]

All is right with the universe.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

I still can't believe someone can look at a 40 foot long 7 ton carnivore with a mouth full of teeth the size of bananas and say "it's not cool because it's probably fluffy".

It looks like a giant sparrow.

 

[Aselith]

Gonna post what I posted on another forum about this

-The authors do not contest the presence of feathers in Theropoda (JP terms: t-rex/raptors/gallimimus/etc)
-The authors contest the presence of true feathers or protofeathers in Ornithischia (stegosaur/ankylosaur/iguanodon/'ceratops) but do not contest that Orniths have developed other filamentous structures (as in Psittacosaurus or Tianyulong, ceratopsians for which we have skin impressions demonstrating these structures) - they're just saying these structures did not turn into the feathers of modern day birds
-They used pterosaurs as an outgroup. Pterosaurs aren't particularly scaly, and their own filamentous structures (pycnofiber hairs) probably developed independently of dinosaur feathering or other integumentary structures, as in the reason they developed those structures might have been completely different (related to their surface area issues and of course flight!)
-The paper mainly wanted to push forward the revolutionary idea that the ancestral dinosaur species were scaly, not feathered or featuring other special integument accessories
-Sedimentology has a strong effect on what is preserved, and many integument specimens cannot even be found (many complete fossils, as in just the BONES, cannot be found). This paper is a caution against overinterpretation (ex. when psittacosaurus was found, some people started going "well maybe they are all fuzzy")
-If you are curious about the sauropod group: there are some preserved embryos of one species with scaly skin
-This write-up of the paper assumes a LOT more than what the paper actually says, even from the first sentence.

Here's a listserv conversation about this work (pre-publication so not all data available) from way back in December 2013: http://dml.cmnh.org/2013Dec/msg00187.html

Here is the present conversation about the finished paper (but it doesn't say much yet): http://dml.cmnh.org/2015Jun/msg00015.html

PS

Awwwwwww he's just a widdle guy. You want me to stroke your feathers, widdle guy?

 

[Jopie]

I don't even know how to express how sad I am that we will likely never know for certain what they looked like. Seeing modern animals recreated based on the same logic just blew my mind.

I dont care if they had feathers, scales, or anything else. I just would love to know what they actually looked like.

 

[Brianimaniac]

I love how dinosaurs can take otherwise rationale people and turn them into science-denying Republicans.