Fossils alter the perception of feather dinosaurs

Newly discovered dinosaur fossils in Siberia have completely changed the perception of scientists about this animal.

Fossils show that dinosaurs have feathers or are capable of growing feathers, which is the exact opposite of what is commonly known.

150 million-year-old fossils discovered in Siberia (Russia) belong to a group of herbivorous dinosaurs called omnithischians that account for half of the dinosaurs that once existed on Earth.

Newly discovered dinosaur fossils in Siberia.(Photo: Reuters)

So far, fossil evidence of hairy dinosaurs has only appeared in China, coming from the fossils of a group of organisms called theropods .

These findings have been compiled into a new study published in the journal Science on July 25.

Dr. Pascal Godefroit of the Royal Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels led this study. He said that the fossil findings are 'a great surprise'.

"The fact that feathers are discovered in two different dinosaur groups, theropods in China and Russian omnithischians means that the common ancestors of these two species once existed about 220 million years ago, can also have feathers" , Godefroit Dr shared.

'Instead of thinking of dinosaurs as big, dry and fierce creatures with scaly skin, many of them have a soft coat on the skin of a chicken' , Dr. Maria McNamara of the University of Cork (Ireland), co-author said.