Illustration of Nanotyrannus (IMAGE)
Caption
Birds and dinosaurs share physical traits — some dinosaurs even had feathers. But while these dinosaurs are thought to have had "fuzzy" or "downy" feathers (shown in this illustration as the yellow spikes on a Nanotyrannus' neck), ancient birds (such as the one in the Nanotyrannus' mouth) were more likely to have had feathers that look similar to the birds of today. A new fossilized feather, discovered in fossilized dinosaur poop, can help researchers better understand why and how some birds survived the mass extinction 66 million years ago that killed 75% of life on the planet.
Credit
Andrey Atuchin
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For reuse with appropriate credit
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Original content