Microraptor sp.

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Time: Early Cretaceous (~120 million years ago)

Region: Liaoning Province, China

Formation: Jiufotang Formation, Jehol Biota

Coloration Data

To analyze melanosomes in specimen BMNHC PH881, 26 feather samples were examined across the entire body. The findings revealed that Microraptor possessed dark plumage with a metallic sheen, similar to that of extant rooks or crows. The authors emphasize that the precise hue of the iridescence (such as blue, green, or violet) cannot be reconstructed, as it depends on the thickness of the keratin layer overlying the melanosomes, which does not survive fossilization. Consequently, they reconstruct the animal's plumage as black with a glossy to weakly iridescent sheen.

Method: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Publications

• Quanguo Li, Ke-Qin Gao, Qingjin Meng, Julia A. Clarke, Matthew D. Shawkey, Liliana D'Alba, Rui Pei, Mick Ellison, Mark A. Norell, Jakob Vinther (2012)
  Research on the coloration of Microraptor.
• Arindam Roy, Michael Pittman, Evan T. Saitta, Thomas G. Kaye, Xing Xu (2020)
  An overview article on the paleo‑coloration of amniotes.
• Jakob Vinther (2015)
  An overview of methods for reconstructing paleo‑coloration.

Documents and files

• Li_et_al_2012.pdf (PDF)
  Original publication in Science.
• Roy_et_al_2020.pdf (PDF)
  Review article on amniote paleocolor in Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.
• Vinther_2015.pdf (PDF)
  Review article on fossil color reconstruction.

Reconstructions

Fossils

Size comparison