Before 2012, the evolution of melanosomes and feather colour was unknown in dinosaurs. Till then, the only fossil evidence of iridescent plumage was limited to a 47-million-year-old isolated avian feather from Germany [5]. That was until researchers in China found a well-preserved dinosaur specimen in one of the top global fossil hotspots, Jianchang County, western Liaoning Province. The specimen found was that of an early Cretaceous dinosaur named Microraptor.
To investigate potential feather colour, samples were taken from the Microraptor’s right forelimb and the melanosome structures compared with extant bird feathers. From this, it was found that the Microraptor had iridescent feathers most similar to the Brazilian teal duck. This discovery allowed for a conservative reconstruction of Microraptor with glossy black feathers with a slight iridescent sheen [6].

Statement Sentence:
Birds are famous for their amazing colours, yet these wonderful displays may have existed a few hundred millions before birds had even evolved.
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References:
- “File:Dinosauria – Microraptor 02.jpg” by Tylwyth Eldar is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
- “Ribbon-tailed Astrapia Astrapia mayeri” by nik.borrow is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
- Prum, R.O., 2006. Bird Coloration, Vol. 1, Mechanisms and Measurements.
- Stoddard, M.C. and Prum, R.O., 2011. How colorful are birds? Evolution of the avian plumage color gamut. Behavioral Ecology, 22(5), pp.1042-1052.
- Vinther, J., Briggs, D.E., Clarke, J., Mayr, G. and Prum, R.O., 2010. Structural coloration in a fossil feather. Biology Letters, 6(1), pp.128-131.
- Li, Q., Gao, K.Q., Meng, Q., Clarke, J.A., Shawkey, M.D., D’Alba, L., Pei, R., Ellison, M., Norell, M.A. and Vinther, J., 2012. Reconstruction of Microraptor and the evolution of iridescent plumage. Science, 335(6073), pp.1215-1219
- “CC462 – Brazilian Teal” by Aaron Maizlish is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
- “Four winged thieves” by Durbed is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
- Hu, D., Clarke, J.A., Eliason, C.M., Qiu, R., Li, Q., Shawkey, M.D., Zhao, C., D’Alba, L., Jiang, J. and Xu, X., 2018. A bony-crested Jurassic dinosaur with evidence of iridescent plumage highlights complexity in early paravian evolution. Nature Communications, 9(1), pp.1-12
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