A bony-crested Jurassic dinosaur with evidence of iridescent plumage highlights complexity in early paravian evolution

Dongyu Hu; Julia A. Clarke; Chad M. Eliason; Rui Qiu; Quanguo Li; Matthew D. Shawkey; Cuilin Zhao; Liliana D’Alba; Jinkai Jiang; Xing Xu

doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02515-y

Nature Communications (Jan 2018)

A bony-crested Jurassic dinosaur with evidence of iridescent plumage highlights complexity in early paravian evolution

Dongyu Hu,
Julia A. Clarke,
Chad M. Eliason,
Rui Qiu,
Quanguo Li,
Matthew D. Shawkey,
Cuilin Zhao,
Liliana D’Alba,
Jinkai Jiang,
Xing Xu

Affiliations

Dongyu Hu: Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Ministry of Land and Resources
Julia A. Clarke: Department of Geological Sciences and Integrated Bioscience, University of Texas at Austin
Chad M. Eliason: Department of Geological Sciences and Integrated Bioscience, University of Texas at Austin
Rui Qiu: Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Ministry of Land and Resources
Quanguo Li: State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences
Matthew D. Shawkey: Department of Biology, University of Ghent, Evolution and Optics of Nanostructures Group
Cuilin Zhao: Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Ministry of Land and Resources
Liliana D’Alba: Department of Biology, University of Ghent, Evolution and Optics of Nanostructures Group
Jinkai Jiang: Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Ministry of Land and Resources
Xing Xu: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02515-y
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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A number of paravian dinosaurs have been described from the Jurassic Yanliao biota, but these have tended to be morphologically similar to Archaeopteryx. Here, Hu. describe the new paravian dinosaur, Caihong juji gen. et sp. nov., which possesses a suite of unusual skeletal and feather characteristics.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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