The newly described dinosaur Zhenyuanlong suni measured 5 feet in length and was a relative of the velociraptor. The fossil’s well-preserved wings bore complex feathers, not simple hairlike structures. Illustration by Zhao Chuang.
Click image for full size. I don’t know about you, but if something like that was chasing me…godsdamn. Feathers, much more terrifying than scales, hands down.
They Had Feathers: Is the World Ready to See Dinosaurs as They Really Were? (Via Pharyngula.)
“Pfffft!”, says the mildly deranged penguin. “Squawked a lot, but was afraid of the shadows. A Jurassic trum-prat, lots of bluster and noise, but with no sense nor taste. Best served by throwing into a lava pit and then buggering off to find some cheese.”
It’d make a nice hat.
If it were a wee bit smaller.
and dead