电影《侏罗纪公园》的夸张描述使个子和火鸡差不多大小的迅猛龙(Velociraptor)名声大振。本期一篇Alan H. Turner和同事的简报报告说，迅猛龙前肢上的凹陷表明这些不会飞的驰龙可能有羽毛。确定哪些非鸟类的恐龙可能长有羽毛比较困难，因为羽毛在化石记录中一般保存不下来。研究一只蒙古迅猛龙样品的古生物学家注意到其尺骨带有名为羽根节的、间隔规则的凹陷，凹陷的间距大约为4毫米。研究人员做出结论：这些凹陷可能是固定次级羽毛翮的。Turner和同事估计，一只迅猛龙可能有14个这样的羽根节。这只恐龙的化石几乎是完整的，它活着时可能有1.5米长、大约15公斤重。
英文原文：
Science 21 September 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5845, p. 1721
DOI: 10.1126/science.1145076
Feather Quill Knobs in the Dinosaur Velociraptor
Alan H. Turner,1* Peter J. Makovicky,2 Mark A. Norell1
Some nonavian theropod dinosaurs were at least partially covered in feathers or filamentous protofeathers. However, a complete understanding of feather distribution among theropod dinosaurs is limited because feathers are typically preserved only in lagerst鋞ten like that of Solnhofen, Germany or Liaoning, China. Such deposits possess clear taphonomic biases toward small-bodied animals, limiting our knowledge regarding feather presence in larger members of feathered clades. We present direct evidence of feathers in Velociraptor mongoliensis based on the presence of quill knobs on the posterior forearm. This report of secondaries in a larger-bodied, derived, and clearly flightless member of a nonavian theropod clade represented by feathered relatives is a substantial contribution to our knowledge of the evolution of feathers.
1 Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024–5192, USA.
2 Department of Geology, The Field Museum, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605–2496, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: turner@amnh.org
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