RE: Feathered Dinosaur Specimen

["Tyrberg Tommy" <tommy.tyrberg@aerotechtelub.se>]

I saw this specimen in China last year, but have been unwilling to
discuss it in advance of publication. It is extremely well-preserved,
indeed even better than it seems from the photographs, and, sorry folks,
it's not feathered. It has however the best preserved "dinofuzz" to
date, though it seems wrong to call such long structures "fuzz". They
are unbranched linear structures which are noticeably thicker and
stiffer than hair. They show no tendency to tuft or bunch like hair
would but lie parallell or subparallell to each other. Almost the whole
body seems to have been covered except for the most distal parts of the
extremities but the length of the "fuzz" varies greatly between
different parts of the body. The stuff on top of the head looked like it
might have formed some sort of a crest. I am uncertain whether the teeth
are serrated, they may well be, but it was very difficult to be sure
with the naked eye.


Tommy Tyrberg