Feathers are for the dinosaurs, and for their modern descendants, the birds. But feathers aren’t the only adornments that ancient animals developed. In fact, a new study suggests that a small reptile from the Middle Triassic sported something similar to feathers, millions of years before the appearance of feathers themselves.
Published in Nature, the study introduces Mirasaura grauvogeli, or “Grauvogel’s Wonder Reptile,” as a new species. Tracing back to around 247 million years ago, this reptile boasted a spectacular crest along its back, composed of solid, feather-shaped structures.
“The fact that we have discovered such complex skin appendages in such an ancient group of reptiles sheds a new light on their evolution. Mirasaura is even older than the dinosaurs and not closely related to them,” said Stephan Spiekman, a study author and a paleontologist at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany, in a press release. “Mirasaura provides ...
