Eight years ago, as a bitter cold gripped the forests north of Alberta, Canada, a worker in a bitumen mine noticed a clang as his excavator hit something unexpected. Rocks of an unusual colour tumbled into view. Quite by chance, he had stumbled upon the most exquisitely preserved fossil of an armoured dinosaur ever discovered – a species of ankylosaur that in 2017 would be named Borealopelta.
After being unearthed, the 110-million-year-old fossil ended up at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta, where technicians spent 7,000 hours over the next six years chiselling away the rock entombing it. What they revealed looks more like a statue than a fossil – the preserved specimen includes much of the nearly six-metre-long animal, from its head to its hips, including remains of skin, armour plates and spikes. But it was dark smears that caught the attention of University of Bristol palaeobiologist and fossil colour expert, Dr Jakob Vinther. Analysis of the smears revealed traces of a reddish pigment, indicating the dinosaur’s skin colour. Borealopelta had entered the select group of dinosaurs to have their true colours revealed.
Skin and feather colours and patterns might seem like superficial details, but they could help rewrite our understanding of how dinosaurs lived and behaved. Today, animals use colour for camouflage, communication, attracting mates and warding off predators. Dinosaurs almost certainly did, too.
We now know the colours of a handful of dinosaurs, including Borealopelta, the Caihong and the Sinosauropteryx. Improved technology promises to reveal many more. In the meantime, dinosaur experts are poring over these latest finds to reveal some surprising new insights into these creatures’ lives.
SHADY SCIENCE
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
World's First Malaria Vaccine
The World Health Organization’s director-general hails ‘historic moment’ as mass immunisation of African children begins
Is River Pollution Putting The Species In Jeopardy Again?
Ten years ago, it was jubilantly announced that o ers had returned to every county in England. But is river pollution putting the species in jeopardy again?
The Big Burnout
Long hours, low pay and a lack of appreciation — among other things — can make for a stressful workplace and lead to burnout. It’s something we should all be concerned about, because over half of the workforce reports feeling it
Putting Nature To Rights
More countries are enshrining the right to a clean environment into law. So if a company or government is impinging upon that right, you could take them to court
Mega Spaceship: Is It Possible For China To Build A Kilometre-Long Spacecraft?
Buoyed on by its successful Moon missions, China has launched a five-year study to investigate the possibility of building the biggest-ever spacecraft
Are We Getting Happier?
Enjoying more good days than bad? Feel like that bounce in your step’s getting bigger? HELEN RUSSELL looks into whether we’re all feeling more cheery…
“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction”
Eighty years ago Japan’s surprise raid on Pearl Harbor forced the US offthe fence and into the Second World War. Ellie Cawthorne is making a new HistoryExtra podcast series about the attack, and she spoke to Christopher Harding about the long roots of Japan’s disastrous decision
Your Mysterious Brain
Science has mapped the surface of Mars and translated the code for life. By comparison, we know next to nothing about what’s between our ears. Over the next few pages, we ask leading scientists to answer some of the most important questions about our brains…
Why Do We Fall In Love?
Is it companionship, procreation or something more? DR ANNA MACHIN reveals what makes us so willing to become targets for Cupid’s arrow
Detecting the dead
Following personal tragedy, the creator of that most rational of literary figures, Sherlock Holmes, developed an obsession with spiritualism. Fiona Snailham and Anna Maria Barry explore the supernatural interests of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle