page_title: Dinosaur coloration
section_title: Sinosauropteryx
hierarchical_section_title: Dinosaur coloration / Feathered dinosaurs / Sinosauropteryx
caption_attribution_description: Reconstructed Color Patterns of Sinosauropteryx. Schematic based on the distribution of pigmented plumage in NIGP 127586 and NIGP 127587 highlighting the level of the countershading transition from a dark dorsum to light ventrum. Scale bar represents 100 mm.
context_page_description: Dinosaur color is one of the unknowns in the field of paleontology as skin pigmentation is nearly always lost during the fossilization process. However, recent studies of feathered dinosaurs have shown that we might be able to infer the color of some species through the use of melanosomes, the color-determining pigments within the feathers.
context_section_description: In 2010 Dr. Mike Benton from the University of Bristol analyzed the remains of Sinosauropteryx, Confuciusornis, Caudipteryx, and Sinornithosaurus from the Yixian and also discovered melanosomes. It was determined that Sinosauropteryx had orange feathers and that its tail was striped. Given the feathers were brightly colored and ill-suited for flight it is hypothesized that this species used its feathers for display. A 2017 study also reported that the body coloration of Sinosauropteryx extended to the face, creating a raccoon-like "mask" around the eyes.
caption: Restoration of Sinosauropteryx illustrating coloration as suggested by the study of preserved melanosomes
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