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A new Chinese specimen indicates that ‘protofeathers’ in the Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Sinosauropteryx are degraded collagen fibres

Theagarten Lingham-Soliar, Alan Feduccia, Xiaolin Wang
Published 7 August 2007.DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0352
Theagarten Lingham-Soliar
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Alan Feduccia
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Xiaolin Wang
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Abstract

Alleged primitive feathers or protofeathers in the theropod dinosaur Sinosauropteryx have potentially profound implications concerning feather morphogenesis, evolution of flight, dinosaur physiology and perhaps even the origin of birds, yet their existence has never been adequately documented. We report on a new specimen of Sinosauropteryx which shows that the integumental structures proposed as protofeathers are the remains of structural fibres that provide toughness. The preservation in the proximal tail area reveals an architecture of closely associated bands of fibres parallel to the tail's long axis, which originate from the skin. In adjacent more exposed areas, the fibres are short, fragmented and disorganized. Fibres preserved dorsal to the neck and back and in the distal part of the tail are the remains of a stiffening system of a frill, peripheral to the body and extending from the head to the tip of the tail. These findings are confirmed in the holotype Sinosauropteryx and NIGP 127587. The fibres show a striking similarity to the structure and levels of organization of dermal collagen. The proposal that these fibres are protofeathers is dismissed.

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Footnotes

    • Received March 13, 2007.
    • Accepted May 4, 2007.
  • © 2007 The Royal Society
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7 August 2007
Volume 274, issue 1620
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: 274 (1620)
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A new Chinese specimen indicates that ‘protofeathers’ in the Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Sinosauropteryx are degraded collagen fibres
Theagarten Lingham-Soliar, Alan Feduccia, Xiaolin Wang
Proc. R. Soc. B 2007 274 1823-1829; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0352. Published 7 August 2007
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A new Chinese specimen indicates that ‘protofeathers’ in the Early Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Sinosauropteryx are degraded collagen fibres

Theagarten Lingham-Soliar, Alan Feduccia, Xiaolin Wang
Proc. R. Soc. B 2007 274 1823-1829; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.0352. Published 7 August 2007

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