Dinosaurs, such as Diplodocus, could have been as colorful as birds. Microscopic structures found in the fossilized skin of a sauropod suggest that these giant dinosaurs could have been as brightly colored as some birds. This is reported by Newscientist, writes UNN.
Details
Tess Gallagher from the University of Bristol (UK) and her colleagues studied fossilized sauropod skin remains, approximately 145 million years old, collected in 2019 and 2022 at the "Mother's Day" quarry in Montana. Although the fossil remains cannot be definitively identified, they are believed to have likely belonged to a Diplodocus.
The researchers took tiny samples from four scales using a scalpel and then examined them with a scanning electron microscope, which allowed them to see details at the cellular level. The skin was preserved in three dimensions, not just as an imprint, says Gallagher.
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It also showed the presence of various melanosomes — structures within cells that store melanin and form the color of skin, hair, eyes, and feathers. "I expected to find at least traces of melanin," she says. "But we found evidence that sauropods could have different forms of melanosomes, which ultimately means the potential for diverse colors."
Melanosomes were present in every sample studied, and they belonged to two main types: elongated and disc-shaped. However, it is currently impossible to say exactly what colors the skin of these sauropods might have been — only that the variety of structures indicates several possible shades.
Diplodocus were probably surprisingly textured animals with potential color patterns and different colors
The closest analogy to disc-shaped structures are the platelet melanosomes found in the feathers of modern birds. Gallagher says they may indicate Diplodocus' ability to create a variety of colors using its melanosomes. "These animals could have had much more distinct color patterns, rather than being gray, as they were often depicted in old paleoart."
Mike Benton, who also works at the University of Bristol but was not involved in the study, notes that the shape of the described structures and the way they are preserved make them plausible melanosomes. In his opinion, the researchers "exercise appropriate caution in their conclusions, but this may be the first possible evidence of color-bearing melanosomes in sauropods."
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