Did All Dinosaurs Have Feathers?

We know that birds and dinosaurs are related. But whether some or all dinosaurs sported feathers is where things get fuzzy.

By Riley Black
Sep 26, 2023 2:00 PM
Artist's rendering of a short-tailed pterosaur with feathers
An artist’s rendering of a short-tailed pterosaur — feathers and all. (Credit: Yuan Zhang/Nature Ecology & Evolution)

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Feathered dinosaurs are all around us today. Birds — from pigeons to penguins — are dinosaurs. But what about our Mesozoic favorites? 

Some dinosaur groups haven’t been found with protofeathers yet. The long-necked sauropods and shovel-beaked hadrosaurs don’t seem to show evidence of fluff at the present time. But based upon the spread of fuzzy body coverings among other dinosaurs, it may be that experts just haven’t found the right fossils.

Did Dinosaurs Have Feathers?

Dinosaurs closely related to birds were feathered. But as paleontologists have dug into the Mesozoic, they've kept finding dinosaurs with protofeathers in different places of the family tree.

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