Re: [dinosaur] Polar dinosaur feather assemblage from Australia

A news story:

First evidence of feathered polar dinosaurs found in Australia

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.uu.se_en_news-2Dmedia_news_article_-3Fid-3D13566-26typ-3Dartikel-26lang-3Den&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=hsVbTuyoGcDygePUt4Z_zCzER5rn0czZNrKtKhGPxfc&s=eqyM9W6_fPZX3grLDW9j_HFdVzYFgWGVxBUSTiIEnd4&e= 

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__phys.org_news_2019-2D11-2Devidence-2Dfeathered-2Dpolar-2Ddinosaurs-2Daustralia.html&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=hsVbTuyoGcDygePUt4Z_zCzER5rn0czZNrKtKhGPxfc&s=cDRXGehllgkQthp5rYeOCDw-V9rYYN4dV5KeNHit_5I&e= 

On Mon, Nov 11, 2019 at 8:25 AM Ben Creisler <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Ben Creisler
> [email protected]
>
> A new paper:
>
> ===
>
> Martin Kundrát, Thomas H. Rich, Johan Lindgren, Peter Sjövall, Patricia
> Vickers-Rich, Luis M.Chiappe & Benjamin P.Kear (2019)
> A polar dinosaur feather assemblage from Australia.
> Gondwana Research (advance online publication)
> doi: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1016_j.gr.2019.10.004&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=hsVbTuyoGcDygePUt4Z_zCzER5rn0czZNrKtKhGPxfc&s=EEQTYeKeW65hltuTSkT0VWmsRiLqRqElGA50P83aHB8&e= 
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.sciencedirect.com_science_article_abs_pii_S1342937X19302850&d=DwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=hsVbTuyoGcDygePUt4Z_zCzER5rn0czZNrKtKhGPxfc&s=SBdPK6--fLZ0nr9CxYGJiJnlzlK-nMQUr9SCC98N6Xk&e= 
>
> Highlights
>
> Fossil feathers from the Koonwarra Fossil Bed in southeastern Australia
> record the first demonstrable dinosaur (including birds) integumentary
> structures described from the Mesozoic polar regions.
> This diverse range of non-avian theropod (paravian) and bird feathers more
> than doubles the number of Mesozoic fossil feather specimens and
> morphologies recovered from the Gondwanan landmasses to date.
> Possible traces of eumelanosomes imply original dark colouration and
> patterning. Some of the geologically oldest barbicel-like structures also
> evince advanced avian-grade flight feather morphologies in the Early
> Cretaceous.
>
> ABSTRACT
>
> Exceptionally preserved Mesozoic feathered dinosaur fossils (including
> birds) are famous, but recognized from only very few localities worldwide,
> and are especially rare in the Southern Hemisphere. Here we report an
> assemblage of non-avian and avian dinosaur feathers from an Early
> Cretaceous polar (around 70°S) environment in what is now southeastern
> Australia. The recovered remains incorporate small (10–30 mm long) basal
> paravian-like tufted body feathers, open-vaned contour feathers, and
> asymmetrical bird-like wing feathers that possess high-angled barbs with
> possible remnants of barbicels — amongst the geologically oldest observed
> to date. Such morphological diversity augments scant skeletal evidence for
> a range of insulated non-avian theropods and birds inhabiting extreme
> southern high-latitude settings during the Mesozoic. Although some of these
> fossil feathers exhibit what may be residual patterning, most are uniformly
> toned and preserve rod-shaped microbodies, as well as densely-packed
> microbody imprints on the barbules that are structurally consistent with
> eumelanosomes. Geochemical analysis detected no identifiable residual
> biomolecules, which we suspect were lost via hydrolysis and oxidization
> during diagenesis and weathering. Nevertheless, an originally dark
> pigmentation can be reasonably inferred from these melanic traces, which
> like the coloured feathers of modern birds, might have facilitated crypsis,
> visual communication and/or thermoregulation in a cold polar habitat.
>
>