Extinct Flying Creatures That Lived Alongside Dinosaurs Had Fur Feathers, Says Study

[Judi Lynn]

Last edited Thu Dec 27, 2018, 09:30 PM - Edit history (1)

19 December 2018, 9:42 am EST By Diane Samson Tech Times



An artist’s concept of the core of Cygnus A. Scientists measured the magnetic fields of two nearby supermassive black holes at the center of two active galaxies. They discovered that, unlike the Sun, the magnetic fields do not power the coronae. ( NASA/SOFIA/Lynette Cook )

It is official. Pterosaurs, the now-extinct flying reptiles that lived between 230 million and 66 million years ago, were covered in feathers.

An international team of paleontologists unearthed two well-preserved pterosaur fossils in China, revealing that feathers did not evolve in birds nor dinosaurs. The discovery pushes back the origin of feathers by 70 million years earlier than initially thought.

The study was published in the journal Nature.

Pterosaurs' Fluffy Feathers
However, the feathers of the flying reptiles do not resemble those that can be seen on present-day birds. Instead, three of the four feather types found were filament-based that looked like hair.

Researchers behind the study explained that the fuzz feathers' primary purpose was for insulation but the creatures also used them as camouflage, for tactile sensing, and aerodynamics. A fourth specimen looked more like the more familiar down feather.

More:
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/236531/20181219/extinct-flying-creatures-that-lived-alongside-dinosaurs-had-fur-feathers-says-study.htm

On edit:

Thank goodness, got the message the headline and caption need to be connected to the article!

The missing title and caption:

Extinct Flying Creatures That Lived Alongside Dinosaurs Had Fur Feathers, Says Study
19 December 2018, 9:42 am EST By Diane Samson Tech Times

A reconstruction of a pterosaur. The flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs between 230 million and 66 million years ago were found to be covered in feathers. Researchers made the discovery after unearthing a pair of well-preserved fossils in a site in China. ( Yuan Zhang )

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The article belonging to the following article will be posted with its actual title in another post!

Scientists Measure Supermassive Black Hole Coronae For The First Time
20 December 2018, 3:12 am EST By Diane Samson Tech Times

https://www.techtimes.com/articles/236557/20181220/scientists-measure-supermassive-black-hole-coronae-for-the-first-time.htm

[marylandblue]

1. I think this artist drank too much at the office holiday party

He thinks black hole coronae look like fuzzy pterosaurs.

[orangecrush]

2. Ummm...

It looks like two posts got mixed up?

Happy holidays!

[Javaman]

3. Memo from alt-reality: black holes are now hairy reptile dino-birds. that is all nt

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Title and caption from an unrelated article. nt

[Judi Lynn]

6. Uh, thank you, this was a first brain spasm of this kind. I'm attempting to fix it.

Really appreciate your help. It helped correct this bizarre effort much more quickly.

?list=RD8FWdQVNeTlI

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Well ... to split hairs, I believe the more commonly used term is "brain fart".

One of my students introduced me to that term years ago, and I immediately embraced it. I conveys the air of accidental self-embarrassment perfectly.

[LakeSuperiorView]

5. Or, it could be that we all are trying to finish off the egg nog with too much rum...

[Judi Lynn]

7. Who's got time for the nog? n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. A hairy pterosaur was found about 50 years ago - "Sordes pilosus" "hairy filth"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sordes

Lovely name to get, 200 million years after you died.