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via BBC
118 million years ago, feathered dinosaurs roamed around in what is now South Australia. How do we know this? Because scientists recently discovered a collection of fossils that lay at the bottom of a lake bed in the town Koonwarra. These fossils contained bones of carnivorous dinosaurs and "proto-feathers," which are simpler than the feathers birds have today and resemble hair. This is the first evidence of feathered polar dinosaurs.
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via Sci NewsThe ten fossils found at Koonwarra were remarkably well-preserved. As well as dinosaur bones and proto-feathers, there were also wing feathers from primitive birds. Prior to this discovery, dinosaur skeletons and early birds feathers had been found at high altitudes, but not in polar habitats. The finding is significant, because it suggests that dinosaurs and small primitive birds were living in extreme, cold environments that had months of darkness every year.
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via CNN
The conclusion from these findings is that dinosaurs living in polar climates likely had fluffy feather coats that helped protect them from the cold temperatures. This could mean that dinosaurs were more widely distributed around the world when they were alive than scientists have imaged. There could even be dinosaur bones in your own backyard.
New Fossils Prove That Fluffy Dinosaurs Lived At South Pole
Scientists have just found evidence that fluffy, feathered dinosaurs lived at the South Pole. This is the first example of dinosaurs using feathers for protection against extreme climates, potentially changing everything we know about dinosaurs.
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