Since the first dinosaur feather fossils were reported in 1996, scientists have noticed a round microscopic structure inside, a structure many assume to be fossilized bacteria. One scientist for whom we should be grateful for the answers to both questions is Jakob Vinther, a professor in macroevolution at the University of Bristol in England.
“I’m looking at fossil ink in ancestors like the squid and the octopus. It is very well maintained. then when you take the fossil ink, it looks exactly the same: a perfect little round ball,” Vinther told Live Science.
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Those balls are melanosomes, microscopic clumps of melanin, the pigment that colors hair, skin, fur, and eyes throughout the animal kingdom. This circular structure turned out to be the same as the bacteria thought on dinosaur feathers.
Vinther’s research has shown that pigments survived and tell us the true colors of extinct animals. That’s because melanin comes not only in perfect little round balls but also in a variety of shapes, each of which produces a different color.
Large, fat melanosomes exhibit gray or blue pigment. Melanosomes that are long and thin, flat or hollow are a sign of color play. The flat or hollow shape of each melanosome helps them fit together in a way that creates the metallic sheen of the colors.
Once you know the shape of melanosomes in fossils, you can learn a lot about these animals. For example, some dinosaurs with scary reputations are striking.
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