Feathered fossil seals birds' dinosaur origins
TL;DR Summary
Live Science highlights Steve Brusatte’s account of the moment feathered dinosaurs proved birds came from dinosaurs: the 1996 discovery of a small, feather-covered coelurosaur in China (Sinosauropteryx) photographed by Currie and Chen and shown to John Ostrom, who cried upon seeing it. This ‘fluffy fossil’ sparked a worldwide rush to find feathered dinosaurs, expanding the tally to numerous species and cementing the view that modern birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs.
- 'He began to cry, and almost fell to the floor': The fluffy fossil that finally showed the world that birds are dinosaurs Live Science
- Scientists believe birds’ skulls hold clues to inner lives of long-extinct dinosaurs The Guardian
- Backyard birds have a deep dino history Science Friday
- There’s a reason we don’t have birds the size of elephants: the mysterious story of how dinosaurs evolved – expert Q&A The National Tribune
- The story of birds: a new history from their dinosaur origins – extract of Steve Brusatte’s new book The Conversation
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