ZAP’S FACTS!
FEATHERED

Scientists know exactly what colors Anchiornis had.

It looked like a Cretaceous magpie - black, white, and a bright orange crown.

2 min read
Scientists know exactly what colors Anchiornis had.
THE FULL STORY

In 2010, scientists managed something amazing. By studying the tiny pigment-bearing cells preserved in fossilized feathers of a small dinosaur called Anchiornis, they figured out exactly what color it was.

Anchiornis was about the size of a crow and lived 160 million years ago in what’s now China. Its body was mostly grey-black with bright white stripes across each wing. Its legs had black-and-white feather “trousers” running down them. And on top of its head sat a bright reddish-orange crown of feathers - like a punk haircut.

It’s the first dinosaur in history we can confidently color in rather than guess at. Every kids book that paints dinosaurs in random green and grey now looks slightly out of date.

Sinosauropteryx was the first feathered dinosaur ever found.
DID YOU KNOW? Sinosauropteryx was the first feathered dinosaur ever found. We even know it had a ginger-and-white striped tail. 2 min read
Oviraptor was first thought to be an egg thief - but it was actually a good parent.
DID YOU KNOW? Oviraptor was first thought to be an egg thief - but it was actually a good parent. It sat on its own eggs like a chicken. We've found the fossils to prove it. 2 min read
Yutyrannus was a 30-foot tyrannosaur covered in feathers.
DID YOU KNOW? Yutyrannus was a 30-foot tyrannosaur covered in feathers. A cousin of T. rex, the size of a bus, wearing a coat of fuzz. 2 min read