And omg, Dinosaurs have feathers!!!
I watched this super sweet NOVA show last night about the Microraptor--a four-winged dinosaur. Honest to god, this thing had wings on its back legs and they think it was a glider.
Although this is a pretty bad picture, you can still see the feather impressions in the stone:
The NOVA website has much better images:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/microraptor/fossils.html
Anyways, this show was amazing! There is a site in China where the igneous rock is easily split apart to reveal perfect fossils formed by the quick layering of volcanic ash. They have about 30 specimens of the Microraptor! Some artist guy sat around for months tediously measuring and sculpting a 3D model of this thing. Eventually they brought a movable model into a wind tunnel at MIT and tested how this thing moved--looking at the optimal position for the winged hind-legs, minimizing drag and creating height. It was pretty gd sweet. What's even sweeter, is that more and more fossil evidence supports the fact that birds are modern dinosaurs. The ostrich is more like a Velociraptor than a crocodile. Blows my mind!
Evolution is so neat and weird!
Although this is a pretty bad picture, you can still see the feather impressions in the stone:
The NOVA website has much better images:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/microraptor/fossils.html
Anyways, this show was amazing! There is a site in China where the igneous rock is easily split apart to reveal perfect fossils formed by the quick layering of volcanic ash. They have about 30 specimens of the Microraptor! Some artist guy sat around for months tediously measuring and sculpting a 3D model of this thing. Eventually they brought a movable model into a wind tunnel at MIT and tested how this thing moved--looking at the optimal position for the winged hind-legs, minimizing drag and creating height. It was pretty gd sweet. What's even sweeter, is that more and more fossil evidence supports the fact that birds are modern dinosaurs. The ostrich is more like a Velociraptor than a crocodile. Blows my mind!
Evolution is so neat and weird!