Feathered Beasties

At www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/341948/title/All_dinosaurs_may_have_… which is a surprising development but not so unlikely after it had been established they were in all likelihood warm blooded (see last week). Researchers have found a feathered dinosaur before but a new discovery in Bavaria seem more like a bird than a reptile – one of the megalosaurs. The specimen, found in a bed of limestone with an arching back, gaping mouth and a coiled tail has all its bones intact, as in life. It was no doubt preserved in some kind of catastrophic incident as even remnants of flesh can be seen (published by PNAS July 2nd) and pieces of kin with fine feathers. In life the feathers would have given the dinosaur a thick coat and a bushy tail. The same story can be seen at www.world-science.net/othernews/120702_dinosaurs