Moulting tail feathers in a juvenile oviraptorisaur |
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Authors: | Prum Richard O |
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Institution: | Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Peabody Natural History Museum, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8150, USA. richard.prum@Yale.edu |
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Abstract: | Xu et al. describe the extraordinarily preserved feathers from two subadults of the oviraptorisaur Similicaudipteryx from the Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. The preserved tail feathers of the juvenile specimen (STM4.1) show a morphology not previously observed in any fossil feathers. The tail feathers of an older, immature specimen (STM22-6) show a typical closed pennaceous structure with a prominent, planar vane. I propose that the feathers of the tail of the juvenile specimen are not a specialized feather generation, but fossilized 'pin feathers' or developing feather germs. |
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