Dinosaurs have colorful tail like peacock birds

Using a showy tail is the way a dinosaur applies to attracting mates, scientists said.

Oviraptor is a dinosaur that lived in the late Cretaceous, long neck, head with crests and curved jaws. Besides, they have a quite flexible tail, the tail feathers can spread out like a fan similar to those of today's peacocks.

Oviraptor dinosaur model at the History Museum
Natural in London. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Dr. Scott Persons from the University of Alberta presented this study at the annual meeting of the Vertebrate Paleontology Society.

Accordingly, he discovered that Oviraptor - a dinosaur that lived about 75 million years ago, had a tail with bones arranged in an unusually dense structure.

'Compared to most other dinosaurs, the Oviraptor species is short but quite beautiful. It is short not because of the lack of vertebrae but due to dense bone structure, crowded together. So this layout makes the tail flexible , 'said Parsons.

And like today's modern birds, Oviraptor dinosaurs can swing their tail feathers to impress the 'potential partners'.

The Latin name means "egg thief" , derived from the fact that specimens were found near an egg nest that showed signs that they were stolen. Even so, scientists are still unsure whether this dinosaur's diet includes eggs.