Psittacosaurus is a genus that has had much coverage on the Musings if only becuase there are so many specimens floating around. However, while I’ve at least made mention of it, the most important specimen had not really featured here before and so here it is (well a cast). This is the famous / infamous ‘filamentous’ specimen that was purported to show an ornithischian with something close to protofeathers. It caused a storm of controversy, partly because of the apparently illegal acquisition of the specimen and also because it was far from clear if these were filaments or not. Obviously the appearance of Tianyulong went a very long way to convincing people that this was likely for real and not just the remnants of a plant, what with that being an ornithischian covered in them. This remains then a most important and much understudied specimen – would kinda help if it turned up – anyone know where it is?
Posts Tagged 'filaments'
Psittacosaurus again
Published 05/12/2011 Dinosaurs 10 CommentsTags: Dinosaurs, evolution, feathers, filaments

Recent Comments