All Dinosaurs May Have Had Feathers: Scientists Discover New Fossil of a Feathered, Plant-Eating Dinosaur

Did all dinosaurs have feathers? As paleontologists continue to uncover fossils across the globe, they're learning more and more about these ancient animals. Now, they've found the first ever example of a plant-eating dinosaur with features and scales.

Previously, researchers believed that only flesh-eating dinosaurs had feathers. This latest discovery, though, proves otherwise. The new dinosaur is called Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, and was first found at a site called Kulinda on the banks of the Olov River in Siberia.

The new dinosaur has epidermal scales on its tail and shins along with short bristles on its head and back. In addition, the dinosaur has complex, compound feathers associated with its arms and legs.

"I was really amazed when I saw this," said Pascal Godefroit, lead author of the new study, in a news release. "We knew that some of the plant-eating ornithischian dinosaurs had simple bristles, and we couldn't be sure whether these were the same kinds of structures as bird and theropod feathers. Our new find clinches it: all dinosaurs had feathers, or at least the potential to sprout feathers."

The feathers in the new dinosaur were very well preserved. The researchers could see each filament and how they joined together at the base. The plant-eating animal was relatively small-only about 1 meter long-and had long hind legs and short arms with five strong fingers. In evolutionary terms, it sits low in the evolutionary tree of ornithischian dinosaurs.

These latest findings suggest that feather-like structures were widespread in dinosaurs. In fact, they may have even been present in the earliest members of the group. Scientists estimate that feathers arose during the Triassic about 220 million years ago for the purposes of insulation and signaling. They were later used for flight.

The findings are published in the journal Science.