Velociraptors had... FEATHERS!

[Coruscate]

As if they weren't scary enough @_@;;

http://physorg.com/news109516799.html

[Selena Aninikkou]

I'm not surprised. That entire dinosaur family is so similar to birds in overall skeleton structure, it's not funny.

[Helel]

This debate has been going on for ages about raptors and other dinos having feathers or not, but the reasoning for this one at least makes sense.

Very cool.

[Musashi]

Very very cool! I wonder what color feathers they were. :O

This makes me think waaaaay back to like first or second grade. We were learning about dinos, and one day we were given a dino picture and told to color it in however we wanted. So I colored mine rainbow. The girl next to me was all "You can't make it rainbow, dinosaurs were green and brown. >:O" And I was all "Stfu n00b! Nobody knows what colors they were."

And now we learn some of them had FEATHERS. X3 *Dances*

I had a HUGE dinosaur phase back then. While I'm not so obsessed now, I still find this info totally spifferific. ^__^

[Ell]

It's official now, huh? Nice.

On side note, why is it that imagining a velociraptor with feathers brings to mind a rabid chocobo?

[Coruscate]

I had a HUGE dinosaur phase back then. While I'm not so obsessed now, I still find this info totally spifferific. ^__^

My mother swore I was going to become a paleontologist because I could name all the dinosaurs XD

And a rabid chocobo... BAD... BAD...

[Mitera Nikkou]

Now they just need to come up with a concrete answer for how they evolved to take flight. Over the past year-and-a-half of following this it is still one of the answers that I've seen eluding the scientists. They have some theories but nothing conclusive yet.

[Lola]

*pokes*

Thats because they didnt.

Evolution is FALSE!

Believe in Creationism! Believe in the Almighty!

>.>

<.<

Besides... if you could go from large flightless feathered creature to small flying creature, the Ostrich would be skyward a loooong time ago.

[Mitera Nikkou]

I tried to give the almighty a chance (if you're talking about Jehovah), but his way makes less sense than evolution. ;/

Anyway, one of the better theories that I've come across is that, after climbing trees and jumping between them they began to increase the distance by gliding and from there they achieved flight. The one that I think is most unlikely was the one where they jumped up to catch flying insects (and such) and ended up achieving flight through that method. In the end, it may not be a coincidence that certain dinosaurs had hollow bones and parts of DNA (genes, I suppose) that match those unequivocally can be found in birds.

[Coruscate]

Evolution seems to be the dominance of good traits over bad traits over a period of time, rather than evolution by intent. There was a scientist that theorized that intent caused evolution, can't remember his name but he was around in Darwin's time I believe.

[Mitera Nikkou]

I wouldn't throw intent completely out of the equation, myself. It's a fact that the mind's needs, perceptions and feelings can have psychosomatic effects.

[Feng]

It would seem that birds still retain the agressive instincts of their Raptor ancestors. If you ever try raising Peach-Faced lovebirds you'll see what I mean. Don't buy into that Domestic Companion nonsense either. They definately act like their dino kin.