Peer-Reviewed Journal Details
Mandatory Fields
McNamara, M.E., Zhang, F., Kearns, S.L., Orr, P.J., Toulouse, A., Foley, T., Hone, D.W.E., Rogers, C.S., Benton, M.J., Johnson, D., Xu, X., Zhou, Z.
2018
May
Nature Communications
Fossilized skin reveals coevolution with feathers and metabolism in feathered dinosaurs and early birds
Published
Optional Fields
SOFT-TISSUE PRESERVATION EPIDERMAL DIFFERENTIATION LIPIDS KERATINIZATION INTEGUMENT EVOLUTION KERATINS REPTILES PROTEIN EMBRYOS
9
2072
Feathers are remarkable evolutionary innovations that are associated with complex adaptations of the skin in modern birds. Fossilised feathers in non-avian dinosaurs and basal birds provide insights into feather evolution, but how associated integumentary adaptations evolved is unclear. Here we report the discovery of fossil skin, preserved with remarkable nanoscale fidelity, in three non-avian maniraptoran dinosaurs and a basal bird from the Cretaceous Jehol biota (China). The skin comprises patches of desquamating epidermal corneocytes that preserve a cytoskeletal array of helically coiled a-keratin tonofibrils. This structure confirms that basal birds and non-avian dinosaurs shed small epidermal flakes as in modern mammals and birds, but structural differences imply that these Cretaceous taxa had lower body heat production than modern birds. Feathered epidermis acquired many, but not all, anatomically modern attributes close to the base of the Maniraptora by the Middle Jurassic.
LONDON
2041-1723
10.1038/s41467-018-04443-x
Grant Details