Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Fluffysaurus

By Ben


This artist’s drawing shows what the newly discovered feathered dinos — the larger species with yellow on their snouts — might have looked like. 
Credit: Brian Choo

20 comments:

Molly said...

This is really interesting! I think it's cool to find another link to the fact that birds were connected to dinosaurs. It's also interesting that this is the biggest one that has yet been found. The name of the article is kind of wrong, though, because feathers are not really fluff.

Camiille said...

This was very weird and interesting!! I never thought of there ever being a "fluffy" dinosaur. Molly is right. The name is wrong because feathers aren't fluff.

Will said...

I learnt something new by reading this article. I never thought of dinosaurs being involved with something that goes into a lot of pillows! Even the flying dinos like Pterosaur (flying dinosaurs like teradacyls) don't have any feathers. Also, as an argument to the above posts, what if the feathers are fluffy?

Gillian said...

I agree with Will. I mean, have you ever seen baby poultry? Their feathers are all fluff. If birds evolved from dinosaurs, then, why not? Also, if they used these dinosaurs in Jurassic Park I don't think there would be as much interest in the movie because a fluffy dinosaur just doesn't strike me as scary.

Jameson said...

Dinosaurs and fluff? Not as intimidating anymore, but still interesting! There's still much to learn about these new species though. Maybe, the fluff was used as a tool? I'm sure the species had some use for it, maybe tickling their prey before they kill and devour it? That's probably too far-fetched...

Edie said...

I never knew dinosaurs could have feathers. I can't believe the fossilized dinosaur feathers were just recently unearthed. I'm wondering why a random guy like Mark Norrel has a say in this if he didn't even work on the new study. I think it's so sad when archaeologists find fossils that were from baby dinosaurs. Why are dinosaurs that run on two legs and eat meat called theropods? If I was one of the archaeologists that discovered this bone, I would probably not classify it as from a dinosaur. I would probably make a whole new species out of it, even though it is a cousin of the t-rex. Thank you Ben so much for the article! It was very interesting. I can't wait to find out more about this whole thing!

Ryan said...

This is very interesting article. I think that a dinosaur with fluff wouldn't be as alarming as a regular dinosaur. I think that this was very interesting, but we can still learn a lot more about these dinosaurs. I agree with Gillian and Will what if the feathers are fluffy. In all it was a very interesting article.

Kevin said...

Dinosaurs with feathers and fluff? I think that's quite similar to a wrestler wearing a pink ribbon! On a more serious note, I doubt the feathers would hinder their movement at all. Also, I think this article is a very unique one.

Nate said...

That is cool! I have heard that chickens are dinosaur's closest relations, but i have never heard of a fluffy dinosaur. It might be a missing link... I know they said other fluffy dinosaurs have been discovered, but this one is the biggest, so maybe the closest related to scaly dinos? Also, the feathers (6 in) were pretty big. If we could get some and somehow tame them, they would make adorable and HUGE pets.

Samantha said...

I think it is exciting that the paleontologists continue to find new dinosaurs. I continue to be amazed that birds and dinosaurs are related, it seems so weird. I'm not sure I agree with the name of this dinosaur, Fluffysaurus, it doesn't seem an accurate name to me. As for feathers and fluff, I disagree with some of the other comments. Down comforters and down pillows are filled with feathers which make them fluffy.

Sinclaire said...

Nate, dinosaurs are extinct! They would still be cool pets though. This was such a cool article! I also knew that dinosaurs were very closely related to birds, but I have never heard of a dinosaur with feathers! I wonder if there are some flying dinosaurs with feathers. That would be so cool! This article was so interesting!

Cami said...

It seems so odd to me to have a dinosaur that has feathers all over it. It seems way less intimidating then any other dinosaur. But, for all we know, back then feathers could have been a sign of power, but now, to us, it just makes them seem cute.

Colin said...

Fluffy Dinosaurs? That makes them way less intimidating. I found this article very interesting, and it's cool to find out birds are connected to dinosaurs. I agree with Edie. If I was one of the archaeologists that discovered this bone I would also probably classify it as a species relating to the other dinosaurs

Alex G. said...

I have never even thought of a fluffy dinosaur! When I think of dinosaurs I think of huge, scary creatures that could kill many living things. This article changed the way I look at these ancient creatures. I agree with Cami though, what if these feathers were used as a mechanism of defense or something that could be used to cause harm to other creatures.

Emory said...

This was a really cool article. I kind of already knew that some dinosaurs have feathers because my brother is very interested by dinosaurs. I wonder if there are benefits to having feathers.

Ava S. said...

I never even considered the fact that there might be dinosarus that had feathers. This article says this is nothing new, but I had never heard of this until I read this article. I wouldn't have been surprised if I found out that there were small feathered dinosaurs, but I never thought a feathered dinosaur would be so enormous when I read the article. It's funny that when you think of a big, scary predator you would never imagine that it had feathers on it. All animals that have feathers don't seem much like predators-except for large birds.

Jordan said...

I knew dinosaurs could fly, but I didn't know they had feathers. I was also surprised about their hieght, I thought they would be at least seven feet tall. Not little ducklings.

David said...

It’s interesting that scientists are still finding new species of dinosaurs, even though dinosaurs died off millions of years ago. The article says that it’s not sure how much of the dinosaur’s body was actually covered with feathers, so how do they know that the animal appeared “fluffy”? Scientists think that the feathers may have evolved to attract mates or to help with insulation. One thing we don’t know is what colors the feathers were. If they were very colorful, they was probably used mainly to attract a mate. Also, the deposit in northeastern China where the fossils were discovered had to have the right kind of dirt and conditions for the feathers to be fossilized. Usually only the bones are fossilized. Maybe more dinosaurs had feathers, but they weren’t preserved like this. T. rex, an ancestor of Y. huali, came 60 million years later and may have had feathers too. It’s strange to think these theropods had feathers, but no wings.

Anthony said...

That article sure changed my way of looking at dinosaurs! I also think of dinosaurs as scary beasts, but now they seem a little nicer. The fluffy dinosaurs are still pretty big, though. I bet the feathers helped to keep them warm in cold climates. The dinosaurs must have adapted to the colder climate with these feathers. And did you know that birds are descendants of dinosaurs?

Max said...

These dinosaurs must have been terrifying!