Claire. Posted September 16, 2016 #1 Share Posted September 16, 2016 Dinosaur's Dark Coloring Helped It Hide in the Shadowy Forest Tiny fossil clues left behind on an early Cretaceous-era dinosaur have revealed the dinosaur's original coloring, a new study finds. The 120-million-year-old dinosaur, a Triceratops relative known as Psittacosaurus, had a dark-colored backside and a light underside, along with a splash of spots and stripes on its body, including its back legs, the researchers said. This dark-on-top, light-on-bottom coloring scheme, known as countershading, is common among modern animals today, the researchers said. Creatures with countershading can use their coloring as camouflage when they're in a shadowy area, such as a forest. Read more: Live Science 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeastieRunner Posted September 16, 2016 #2 Share Posted September 16, 2016 "Oh how cut- Hey! Where did it gOooooo- AAAHH! They're eating me!" 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crewwww Posted September 16, 2016 #3 Share Posted September 16, 2016 was T. rex around 120 million years ago? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted September 18, 2016 #4 Share Posted September 18, 2016 On 9/16/2016 at 10:54 PM, Crewwww said: was T. rex around 120 million years ago? No. It was a very late Cretaceous. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperdyer Posted September 19, 2016 #5 Share Posted September 19, 2016 Perhaps the chameleons and anoles are the remnants of these critters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted September 19, 2016 #6 Share Posted September 19, 2016 3 hours ago, paperdyer said: Perhaps the chameleons and anoles are the remnants of these critters. No, those two are squamates, a completely different group. The survivors of Psittacosaurus' group which is the Archosaurs are the birds and the crocodilians. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sameerr Posted September 28, 2016 #7 Share Posted September 28, 2016 On 9/20/2016 at 1:21 AM, oldrover said: No, those two are squamates, a completely different group. The survivors of Psittacosaurus' group which is the Archosaurs are the birds and the crocodilians. That's right. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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