Scales To Feathers

For more than a century, Dinosaurs were pictured as scaly lumbering reptiles that were just designed to be nothing more than fearsome killing monsters, but fossils like Archaeopteryx suggested a link to birds, now I know this isn't anything new, but it does change how we have all started to view Dinosaurs. The biggest discovery was made in 1996 when Sinosauropteryx was discovered from Liaoning, China. The first real Dinosaur species with feather-like filaments ringing its body, which made scientists fully understand that feathers were not in fact unique to just birds. In nearby fossil beds, farmers and palaeontologists began unearthing fossils almost monthly in the 1990s and early 2000s, Caudipteryx with tail feathers, Microraptor with four wing like surfaces used for gliding, Anchiornis whose pigments even revealed blank and white pigments and the most fascinating evidence that feathers were not just limited to the small almost bird sized Dinosaurs but also huge predators similar to the mighty T-rex have been found such as Yutyrannus, a 30 foot long Tyrannosaurid that has clear feather evidence. This shows that even huge predators might have sported fluffy or feather coats. The evolution of feathers most probably began for warmth in smaller theropods, later helping with displays, camouflage, brooding eggs and only eventually much later for flight. But one thing I feel is for certain, in no way does the lack of scales in place of feathers make these animals less captivating or fascinating, imagine facing a predator taller than a small bus, edging towards you, raising a colourful feathered cloak in threat, shaking its plumage in an intimidating and aggressive Manner and a deep rumble coming from it that resonates through every part of your body......all of that would be terrifying and that's without the teeth and claws! So rather than making Dinosaurs less appealing and ferocious, I feel that these discoveries have made them more exciting and I can't wait for the next reveal. Its incredible to imagine that every time you look out your window and see a Pigeon or a Robin that you are in fact staring at a Dinosaur, a long way from the T-rex or even the tiny Microraptor, but every Pigeon, Robin, Turkey and even Penguin id a distant relative of the T-rex and Dinosaurs are still sharing the planet with us today, making them them one of the most successful evolutionary species to have lived.