Skin appendages of the late jurassic ornithischian dinosaurs from Transbaikalia and a problem of the feather origin

Abstract

We discuss the evolutionary significance of integumentary remains discovered in the late Jurassic ornithischian dinosaurs of the taxon Ornithopoda from the Kulinda locality (Transbaikalia). The fossil finds demonstrate an uncommon type of skin appendage — the bristle scale. It represents an intermediate stage between the reptile scale and the dinosaur and bird feather. The hypothesis of the origin of the feather from the spatially changed bristle scale is proposed. Refs 10. Figs 1.