Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur
Quanguo Li, et al.
Science 327, 1369 (2010);
DOI: 10.1126/science.1186290
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The following resources related to this article are available online at www.sciencemag.org(this information is current as of March 11, 2010 ):telling us nothing about the physical origin of theexcess topography but confirming the view thatthe body should reorient to the lowest energy
state. This makes sense if the topography ispositively correlated with the geoid. One way of
producing the small GTR suggested here is tohave a compensation at depth D that nearlycancels the gravity of the surface mass anomaly.
The predicted GTR is then reduced from thatgiven above by a factor f = 1 – (1 – D/R)l . The
data suggest f ~ 0.1 and this requires D ~ 100 km,
but with a large uncertainty. There are many
possible interpretations of this result. It might
correspond to the base of the cold ice lithosphere.
It could be a thermal anomaly on the order of
10 K, corresponding to a density anomaly of one
part in a thousand extending over a depth rangeof 100 km (because this would be equivalent to
the mass of 100 m of ice). If this arose fromconvection, it would argue against a thin outerconvective shell. However, the geoid anomalies
arising from convection do not necessarily
correspond to a simple estimate of density
anomalies alone (i.e., thermal isostasy) anddepend on the viscosity structure. The compensation could correspond to a density anomaly inthe deeper region (the mixture of ice and rock),but this seems less likely given the depth of ~500
km to the core. The compensation could be a
structure that develops at depth because of aphysical process that creates topography at thesurface, or it could be a structure that forms at
depth, causing the surface to deform. The only
firm conclusion that seems possible at present isthat the extent of compensation is not consistent
with a cold interior that supports loads overgeologic time scales.
As has been suggested for Callisto, theproposed incomplete differentiation of Titan
may have arisen because of a long accretiontime (on the order of 1 million years), perhaps
because both bodies are at a large distance fromthe parent planet, as measured in units of planet
radii.
References and Notes
1. J. I. Lunine, R. D. Lorenz, Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci.
37, 299 (2009).
2. R. A. Jacobson et al., Astron. J. 132, 2520 (2006).
3. N. Rappaport et al., Icarus 126, 313 (1997).
4. We use the rotational parameter qr ¼ w2 R3t =GMt ¼
3:9555  10−5 , where w, Rt, and Mt are Titan’s spinrate, radius, and mass.
5. The shape of the ellipsoid is given byabc
ﬃ,
rell ðl,ϕÞ ¼ pﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃﬃ
2
2
2

Supporting Online Material

where ϕ is the latitude and l is the longitude.
6. C. D. Murray, S. F. Dermott, Solar System Dynamics(Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1999).
7. H. Zebker et al., Science 324, 921 (2009).
8. W. A. Heiskanen, H. Moritz, Physical Geodesy (Institute ofPhysical Geodesy, Technical University, Graz, Austria,1979).

28 September 2009; accepted 5 January 201010.1126/science.1182583

ðbc cosðϕÞcosðlÞÞ þ ðca cosðϕÞsinðlÞÞ þ ðab sinðϕÞÞ

Plumage Color Patterns of an
Extinct Dinosaur
Quanguo Li,1 Ke-Qin Gao,2 Jakob Vinther,3,4* Matthew D. Shawkey,5 Julia A. Clarke,6Liliana D’Alba,5 Qingjin Meng,1 Derek E. G. Briggs,3,4 Richard O. Prum4,7
For as long as dinosaurs have been known to exist, there has been speculation about theirappearance. Fossil feathers can preserve the morphology of color-imparting melanosomes, whichallow color patterns in feathered dinosaurs to be reconstructed. Here, we have mapped feather
color patterns in a Late Jurassic basal paravian theropod dinosaur. Quantitative comparisonswith melanosome shape and density in extant feathers indicate that the body was gray and dark
and the face had rufous speckles. The crown was rufous, and the long limb feathers were whitewith distal black spangles. The evolution of melanin-based within-feather pigmentation patterns
may coincide with that of elongate pennaceous feathers in the common ancestor of Maniraptora,
before active powered flight. Feathers may thus have played a role in sexual selection or othercommunication.
xceptionally preserved specimens fromthe Lower Cretaceous of China haveshown that simple body contour feathersand elongate pennaceous forelimb and tailfeathers, bearing both barbs and barbules, were
present in basal maniraptoran dinosaurs before
powered flight evolved (1–3). Discoveries of elongate leg and foot feathering in Paraves (4–6)
have raised new questions about the evolutionary
origin of aerodynamic feather function (2, 3).
Preserved color patterns have also been noted,
such as the light and dark regions in the tail of
Caudipteryx (1), but there has been no evidenceE

9. The associated uncertainties do not account for thelimitations of the Radau-Darwin model or for the small
nonhydrostatic contributions to J2 and C22 and have to be
regarded as purely formal. See SOM for additional
discussion.
10. A. P. Showman, R. Malhotra, Science 286, 77(1999).
11. The MoI factors for Ganymede and Callisto were also
obtained from the Radau-Darwin equation, from a gravity
field forced to the hydrostatic ratio.
12. C. Sotin et al., in Titan from Cassini-Huygens, R. H. Brown,
J.-P. Lebreton, J. Hunter Waite, Eds. (Springer, New York,
2009), pp. 61–73.
13. A. C. Barr, R. M. Canup, Icarus 198, 163 (2008).
14. A. D. Fortes, P. M. Grindrod, S. K. Trickett,
L. Vočadlo, Icarus 188, 139 (2007).
15. P. M. Grindrod et al., Icarus 197, 137 (2008).
16. W. M. Kaula, Theory of Satellite Geodesy (Blaisdell,
Waltham, MA, 1966).
17. The work of L.I., P.R., and P.T. was funded in partby the Italian Space Agency. The work of N.J.R.,
R.A.J., J.W.A., and S.W.A. was carried out at the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute ofTechnology, under a contract with NASA. D.J.S.
acknowledges support from NASA's planetary geology
and geophysics program.

to indicate how such patterns, or color moregenerally, evolved.
Fossil avian feathers preserve the morphologies of melanosomes, the melanin-containing
organelles that determine key aspects of color(7, 8). A recent study (9) reported melanosome
impressions in Cretaceous feathers, but the limited sample of small regions of distinct animals
and comparison on the basis of gross melanosome shape prevented the interpretation of
overall plumage color patterns. Here, we analyze melanosome size, shape, density, and distribution in order to reconstruct the plumage color

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Materials and Methods
Figs. S1 to S3Table S1
References and Notes

patterns of a new specimen of a feathereddinosaur. The specimen, BMNHC PH828 (10)(Figs. 1 and 2 and figs. S3 and S4), comprises
part and counterpart of a partial skeleton in three
shale blocks, with elements of the forelimbs anddistal hindlimbs in near-complete articulation.
Preparation was minimal, and most feathers arewell preserved even to their insertions (fig. S4).
Elongate pennaceous forelimb (primaries, secondaries, and coverts) and hindlimb feathers arepresent, as are contour feathers associated withthe skull and body (Figs. 1 and 2 and figs. S3 andS4). The new specimen is referred to Anchiornis
huxleyi Xu et al. (11) and preserves morphologies that are consistent with the recovered placement of this species within Paraves as a part ofTroodontidae [supporting online material (SOM)text] (6). It was found in strata estimated to be
Late Jurassic in age from the Daxishan site
(Jianchang County, Liaoning Province), which

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REPORTS

1
Beijing Museum of Natural History, 126 Tianqiao South Street,
Beijing 100050, People’s Republic of China. 2School of Earthand Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871,
People’s Republic of China. 3Department of Geology andGeophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
4
Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New
Haven, CT 06511, USA. 5Department of Biology and Integrated
Bioscience Program, University of Akron, Akron OH 443253908, USA. 6Department of Geological Sciences, University ofTexas at Austin, 1 University Station C1100, Austin, TX 78712,
USA. 7Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale
University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:jakob.vinther@yale.edu

12 MARCH 20101369

Fig. 1. A. huxleyi (BMNHC PH828) with SEMs of samples from the feathers.
(A) Part, with inset of isolated right hindlimb. The left forelimb is seen
in ventral view, and the right is seen in dorsal view. (B) Explanatory
illustration. Numbered dots indicate samples from the part (red) andcounterpart (blue) (table S4 and fig. S5). (C to H) SEMs of melanosomes
is the same locality as a specimen recently referred to this taxon (LPM-B00169) (6).
We sampled proximal and distal parts of allfeather types and all body regions preserved in
BMNHC PH828 (Figs. 1 and 2 and table S4).
Scanning electron micrographs (SEMs) of all 29
samples revealed impressions of spherical tooblate carbonaceous bodies or impressions 100
to 1908 nm in length (Figs. 1 and 2 and fig. S2)
identified as melanosomes (8). Most samples
revealed elongate eumelanosomes that varied
slightly in morphology and distribution in different regions of the body. The distal crown feathers
contained distinct subspherical phaeomelanosomes~500 nm in length (Fig. 2B). A posteroventral
sample from the skull showed distinct regions ofspherical and elongate melanosomes.

1370

and melanosome impressions taken from samples 7 (C), 6 (D), 5 (E), 18 (F),24 (G), and 21 (H). Ga, gastralia; Fu, furcula; Lh, left humerus; Lm, left
manus; Lp, left pes; Lr, left radius; Ls, left scapula; Lu, left ulna; Mu, manual
ungual; Rh, right humerus; Rm, right manus; Rr, right radius; Ru, right ulna;Rs, right scapula.

For comparison, we assembled a data set on
melanosomes from a phylogenetically diverse
sample of extant bird feathers with black, gray,and brown melanin pigmentation but lacking
structural coloration (12). Other molecular pigments, such as carotenoids and porphyrins, also
produce plumage colors but are not preserved
morphologically; thus, we cannot address their
possible effects here. Four properties of melanosome morphology and distribution—long axis
variation, short axis skew, aspect ratio, anddensity—were used as variables in a canonicaldiscriminant analysis (table S1) (12). In general,
eumelanosomes that produce black and graycolors are long and narrow, whereas those that
produce rufous red and brown colors are shortand wide (SOM text). We assigned colors to the

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VOL 327SCIENCEfossil samples on the basis of the discriminant
analysis of modern feather colors (Fig. 3 and fig.
S1). All the melanosome morphologies in thefossil fell within the range of those observed inextant birds (fig. S2). Twenty-four samples wereassigned a color with >0.9 probability (table S4).
Three samples were ambiguous, with probabilities between 0.56 and 0.74, and three samples
lacked significant numbers of melanosomes andwere interpreted as unpigmented (table S4) (8).
Sample 14 is a distinct outlier in the analysis,
probably because of its high aspect ratio and longaxis variation, and was predicted as gray.
Although melanosome morphologies forblack and brown are strongly diagnostic, avariety of melanosome morphologies and densities generate gray colors (SOM text, tables S2

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REPORTS

Fig. 2. A. huxleyi (BMNHC PH828) isolated skull
with SEMs of samples from the feathers. (C) Skull.
(D) Explanatory illustration. Numbered dots indicate samples. J, jugal; L, lacrimal; Ld, left dentary;M, maxillare; N, nasale; Pm, premaxillare; Rd, rightdentary. (A, B, E, and F) SEMs of samples 26 (A),
25 (B), and 27 (E) and (F).
and S3, and fig. S1). Samples from body contour
feathers (samples 10 to 13) indicate a black orgray color (Fig. 3 and table S4). Samples fromthe marginal forelimb coverts (samples 1 and 5)
and the front and dorsal surface of the legs(samples 14 to 16 and 18) were also black orgray. The undercoverts in the propatagial region
were predicted as brown (table S4), albeit withlow probability (0.7). Samples from the distal
tips of the elongate primary and secondaryfeathers of the forelimb (samples 4 and 6 to 8),
the toes (sample 19), and the elongate pennaceous feathers of the pedal surface of the shank(tibia) and foot (samples 20 to 24) were reconstructed as black. Melanosomes in sample 17 arepoorly preserved, preventing the interpretation ofcolor. A heterogeneous sample from the contour
feathers on the side of the face (sample 27)
showed separate regions of distinct melanosomes
and was reconstructed as containing distinct,
adjacent black and rufous feathers or parts offeathers. Samples from the long forecrownfeathers and the shorter feathers from the sidesof the crest (samples 28 and 26) indicate gray,whereas the longest feathers from the center ofthe crest (sample 25) indicate a brown in close
proximity to rufous. The discriminant analysis
clustered sample 25 with rufous feathers of living
birds. Melanosomes were sparse in basal portionsof the elongate pennaceous feathers of theforelimb and the hindlimb (samples 2, 9, and15), indicating that these areas were lightly
pigmented and whitish in color (8). The correlation between the colors reconstructed on the basisof melanosome morphology and density and thepreserved appearance of the fossil (8) supports
extrapolation of at least dark and light color
patterning (SOM text); for example, part andFig. 3. Quadratic discriminant analysis of color(black, brown, or gray) inextant birds (dots) andin samples from BMNHC
PH828 (numbers). The
analysis identified properties of melanosome morphology and distributionthat predicted color in extant birds and then used
these data to predict colors in the fossil sample(fig. S1, and tables S1 to
S4) (12). Canonical axis
1 is strongly positively
associated with melanosome aspect ratio, andaxis 2 is strongly positively associated with melanosome density skew. When present, arrows point to the locations of the samples
in canonical space; this was done to avoid overlap of sample names.

Fig. 4. Reconstruction of the plumage color of the Jurassic troodontid A. huxleyi. The tail is unknown in
specimen BMNHC PH828 and reconstructed according to the complete specimen previously described (6).
Color plate is by M. A. DiGiorgio.
counterpart of the Anchiornis specimen exhibit
dark tips on many of the upper covert feathers of
the forelimb and the hindlimb that are consistent
with eumelanin pigmention (fig. S4, A and D).
A. huxleyi was darkly colored with gray andblack body plumage (Fig. 4). The head was grayand mottled with rufous and black. Elongate
gray feathers on the front and sides of the crest
appear to frame a longer rufous hindcrown. Gray
marginal wing coverts formed a dark epauletthat contrasted strongly with the black- and grayspangled light primaries, secondaries, and greater
coverts of the forelimb. The large black spanglesof the primaries and secondaries created a darkoutline to the trailing edge of the forelimb plumage. The spangles of the outermost primaries
were black. The greater coverts of the upper wing
were spangled with gray or black, creating anarray (secondary coverts) or rows (primary coverts) of conspicuous dots. The contour feathers

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REPORTSof the legs were gray on the shank and blackon the foot. Like the forelimb, the elongate feathers of the lateroplantar surface of the hindlimb
were white at their bases with broad black distal spangles. The tail is unknown in BMNHC
PH828.
The plumage color pattern elements of theLate Jurassic A. huxleyi are strikingly similar tovarious living birds, including domesticatedfowl, providing insights into the evolution offeather-pigment pattern development (SOM
text). The identification of melanin-based withinand among-feather plumage coloration patterns
in Anchiornis helps reveal the evolution of color
pigmentation patterning mechanisms in dinosaurs. For example, the pattern observed in thesimple tail integumentary structures of the basal
coelurosaur Sinosauropteryx prima (13) has beeninterpreted as representing spaced light and dark
patches among feathers. Our results confirm that

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REPORTS
pigment deposition. Such variation occurs in
Aves and would be optimized as ancestral to atleast Coelurosauria (Fig. 5). However, the evolutionary origin of within-feather pigmentation
patterning, including stripes, feather spots, andspangles, appears phylogenetically later. Its
origin is presently coincident with the origin ofelongate pennaceous feather structure in the mostrecent common ancestor of Maniraptora whendata from Caudipteryx (1, 10, 20) are considered(Fig. 5). Thus, the first evidence for plumage
color patterns in a feathered nonavian dinosaur
suggests that selection for signaling function may
be important in the early evolution of feathers.

Fig. 5. The distribution of integumentary types in coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs and inferred
distribution of plumage patterning (2, 3, 6). Protofeather-like appendages appeared at the base of
Coelurosauria, if not earlier (3). Color patterns reported in the tail of the compsognathid Sinosauropteryx(9) indicate that among-feather color patterns may have also appeared at this stage. Pinnate feathers andwithin-feather color patterns first appear in Maniraptora, as observed in the striped pinnate tail feathers of
the oviraptorosaur Caudipteryx (1, 20, 21) and the troodontid A. huxleyi.
melanin-based patterning is a mechanism forwithin- and among-feather variation, producing
lighter and darker regions. According to our datafrom Anchiornis and its phylogenetic placement(6), these two common mechanisms of plumage
patterning in crown group Aves are supported asminimally having a first appearance in the mostrecent common ancestor of Troodontidae + crown
Aves. Further, although paravian relationships remain controversial, recent analyses recover a monophyletic Deinonychosauria (6, 14), indicating
support for within- and among-feather variation
as ancestral to at least Paraves (Fig. 5).
Complex within- and among-feather plumage
coloration, such as that in A. huxleyi, is used indisplay and communication in living birds. Suchcommunication, however, may function in different ways: commonly in intersexual communication (15), and less so in interspecific andintraspecific competition for restricted foraging[for example, multiple species of antbirds forage
on army ant swarms (16)]. Alternatively, boldplumage color patterns can function in interspecific threat and defense postures [such as insome owls or the sunbittern (Eurypygia helias)],in startling predators or warning conspecifics
within a flock (17), or in startling invertebrate

1372

prey that are seized as they attempt to flee (suchas with North American Setophaga redstarts,
Neotropical Myioborus whitestarts, and Australian Rhipidura fantails) (18, 19). Melanin deposition in the distal portion of primaries in birds
such as gulls (Laridae) may offer added resistanceto wear (20).
The plumage of Anchiornis is composed of avariety of differently sized pennaceous (closedvaned and rachidial) feathers that vary little infeather shape (Fig. 1 and figs. S3 and S4). The
body contour feathers, the primary and secondary
forelimb feathers, and the forelimb and hindlimb
coverts all share a similar aspect ratio (length towidth). Thus, mechanisms producing varieties offeather shape may postdate the evolutionary first
appearance of plumage color variation (SOM text).
The most recent common ancestor ofAnchiornis and Aves must have had the capacity
to develop white, gray, black, and rufous
plumage color patterns both within and among
feathers. Both mechanisms of melanin-based
plumage patterning evolved before the derived
form of active powered flight minimally inferred
as ancestral to Avialae (Fig. 5). The observedcolor pattern in Sinosauropteryx is consistent
with only among-feather variation in melanin

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Supporting Online Materialwww.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/science.1186290/DC1
Materials and Methods
SOM Text
Tables S1 to S5
Figs. S1 to S5
References
22 December 2009; accepted 25 January 2010
Published online 28 January 2010;10.1126/science.1186290
Include this information when citing this paper.

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References and Notes
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38, 241 (2000).
22. E. Champion and S. Nesbitt helped produce the figures.
N. Vitek, J. A. Cundiff, and C. L. Canter made initialinvestigations of modern feathers. The research was
funded by NSF (EAR-0720062 and EAR-0719758), theAir Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-09-10159), University of Akron startup funds, the National
Geographic Society, and the Yale University W. R. Coe
Fund. K. J. McGraw and R. J. Safran provided modernfeather samples. The studied specimen is accessioned at
Beijing Museum of Natural History (BMNHC). The color
plate in Fig. 4 was painted by M. D. DiGiorgio.