Fossil hints at fuzzy dinosaurs
A discovery in China has prompted researchers to question the scaly image of dinosaurs.
Previously, experts thought the first feathered dinosaurs appeared about 150 million years ago, but the find suggests feathers evolved much earlier.
This has raised the question of whether many more of the creatures may have been covered with similar bristles, or "dino-fuzz".
Hai-Lu You, a researcher from the Insitute of Geology in Beijing, was part of the team that discovered the fossil.
He described the filaments seen on the body of the new dinosaur, which the team has named Tianyulong confuciusi, as "protofeathers" - the precursors of modern feathers.
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Previously, experts thought the first feathered dinosaurs appeared about 150 million years ago, but the find suggests feathers evolved much earlier.
This has raised the question of whether many more of the creatures may have been covered with similar bristles, or "dino-fuzz".
Hai-Lu You, a researcher from the Insitute of Geology in Beijing, was part of the team that discovered the fossil.
He described the filaments seen on the body of the new dinosaur, which the team has named Tianyulong confuciusi, as "protofeathers" - the precursors of modern feathers.