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Experiment Will Determine Dinosaur's Skin Color

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-color-is-my-dinosaur dept.

AchilleTalon writes "One of the only well preserved dinosaur skin samples ever found is being tested at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron to determine skin color and to explain why the fossilized specimen remained intact after 70-million years. University of Regina physicist Mauricio Barbi said the hadrosaur, a duck-billed dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period (100-65 million years ago), was found close to a river bed near Grand Prairie, Alberta."

14 of 98 comments (clear)

  1. Quite interresting by Silpher · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Because this could also determine if they were feathered or not. No need for spectacular skin if feathered and probably need for colored skin if not feathered.
    Disclaimer: Not an expert

    1. Re:Quite interresting by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Funny

      Disclaimer: Not an expert

      On Slashdot, we assume that about everyone.

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    2. Re:Quite interresting by Webs+101 · · Score: 5, Informative
      It's unlikely that this creature had feathers. Feathers are only known in Coelurosauria, which is a subset of theropods that, for example, includes Tyrannosaurus but not Allosaurus.

      The hadrosaur under study is an ornithischian - a very, very distant relative that's more closely related to Stegosaurus and Triceratops. Psittacosaurus, a primitive horned dinosaur, did have tail bristles, but they appear to have been decorative for display and not feather-like at all.

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    3. Re:Quite interresting by ozmanjusri · · Score: 2

      Maybe by late cretaceous. Early on there would have been sour gymnosperms.

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    4. Re:Quite interresting by theguyfromsaturn · · Score: 2

      Actually, Coelurosauria are not the only feathered dinos anymore. I think they have found feather evidence on Carnosaurs as well making pretty much all theropods likely to have been feathered.

      And let's not forget the "hairy" tail fans of the Psittacosaurus which certainly indicate that even ornithischians had non-scaly skin covering. Actually there is even more evidence of proto feather like structures in both ornithischians and saurischians.

      http://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/blah-blah-feathered-ornithischians-yawn/

      All in all one can't discount some sort of skin covering. That being said, I seem to recall reading somewhere that many animals that have coloured covering over their skin (scale, feathers, or hair) often have corresponding matching colouring (or at leasat pattern) on the skin itself. It wouldn't be a complete waste of time in any case.

      P.S. I am not an expert either, but David Hone (of archosaur musings is) is, so you can find a bit of good info on his website.

      --
      I like my dinosaurs feathery, and my pterosaurs hairy (or is it pycnofibery?)
    5. Re:Quite interresting by davidbrit2 · · Score: 2

      We practically require it.

  2. Re:Realistic Dinosaur costumes ... by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not the mama!

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  3. Dinosaurs closer to Birds by Jagungal · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In the past many think that Dinosaurs were most closely related to reptiles but we now know that Dinosaurs are most closely related to birds and thus may have the colour variations that one sees in birds rather than the colour variation seen in Lizards.

    1. Re:Dinosaurs closer to Birds by PlastikMissle · · Score: 3, Informative

      Why do birds descending from dinosaurs rule out reptiles descending from dinosaurs?

      Given the huge amount of dinosaur races, wouldn't it be more likely that different dinosaur races evolved into different types of animals over time? This would make them equally related to dinosaurs, but not the same dinosaurs. For all we know their common ancestor could be a pre dinosaur animal even though both were dinosaurs at one point in time.

      Actually dinosaurs (and birds now) are reptiles, but they're not lizards. While dinosaurs and lizards (and crocodilians) are descended from the same family tree, the dinosaurs and birds have very distinguishable anatomic differences. Dinos and birds have their legs stretched under them, while the rest of the reptiles have their legs stretched out of the sides.

    2. Re:Dinosaurs closer to Birds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Birds' color variation is typically in their feathers, not their skin.

      And birds are dinosaurs. The dinosaurs didn't become extinct, they just suffered a massive loss of biodiversity. Only a tiny tiny slice of dinosaur species made it through the extinction event, and they lead to today's birds.

  4. Re:Realistic Dinosaur costumes ... by buchner.johannes · · Score: 2

    Haha, imagine you're the one who has to publish that all the dinosaurs were shiny pink!

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  5. Can't we just instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Judge them by the content of their character?

  6. The color of their skin????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Instead of knowing the color of their skin, I would be more interested in knowing the content of their character.

  7. Re:I don't see color by rmdingler · · Score: 3, Informative

    Sure we can. Right up until your daughter's of dating age.

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