Blog Post Image: New Research Revises Conventions for Deciphering Color in Dinosaurs While Suggesting Connection between Color and Physiology

Analysis for the distribution of shapes of melanin-containing organelles (melanosomes) in fossil and living amniotes shows that fuzz-covered dinosaurs like Sinosauropteryx share similarities with living lizards, turtles and crocodilians. In these living taxa color and the shape of the melanosomes are not linked in such a way that color can be reconstructed from melanosome shape alone. Melanosomes in Sinosauropteryx don’t presently tell us if this animal was brown, blackish or grey. However, feathered dinosaurs are similar to birds, and we can estimate their color. Image credit: Li et al. (authors)