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2mo ago

Mirasaura Grauvogeli Shows Feather-Like Crest Evolved Separately in Triassic Reptiles

Analysis of well-preserved fossils shows pigment-rich skin appendages in a 247-million-year-old drepanosaur served as visual displays before true feathers evolved

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This fossil is of an ancient reptile, the Mirasaura grauvogeli. Housed at the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in Germany, it shows a bird-like skull with a crest along its back. The fossil is forcing a rethink of the evolution of skin and feathers in reptiles. Image via The Conversation/ Stephan Spiekman (CC BY-NC-ND).

Overview

  • A Nature paper published July 23 formally names the new genus and species Mirasaura grauvogeli based on two complete skeletons and associated specimens collected in the 1930s
  • The tall dorsal crest consists of corrugated, non-branched skin appendages preserving melanosomes that resemble those in bird feathers, confirming conspicuous pigmentation
  • Phylogenetic analysis places Mirasaura as the closest known relative of Longisquama within the drepanosaur clade, indicating elaborate back sails were a groupwide trait
  • Morphological and pigment evidence supports the hypothesis that the crest functioned as a colored display structure for intraspecies communication or mating rituals
  • Advanced imaging techniques, including synchrotron scans and electron microscopy of over 80 specimens, reveal soft-tissue details that reshape views of early amniote integument diversity