AsianScientist (Sep. 22, 2016) – Scientists in Hong Kong have used a cutting edge laser-based imaging technique to help produce the most detailed color reconstruction of a dinosaur’s skin to date. Their findings were published in Current Biology.
The 120-million-year-old early Triceratops relative Psittacosaurus is known from hundreds of specimens ranging from hatchlings to adults, but this study focused on a specimen with the best preserved soft tissue.
University of Hong Kong’s Dr. Michael Pittman and Foundation of Scientific Advancement’s Thomas Kaye employed a sophisticated imaging technique called laser-stimulated fluorescence or LSF imaging, where photons from the laser interacts with atoms in the minerals of the fossil to induce fluorescence. The technique provides an instant chemical ‘map’ of a fossil that often reveals anatomical information that is invisible under normal lighting.
Analysis after laser imaging revealed that Psittacosaurus had a lighter underside relative to its top. This ‘countershading’ may have been used by Psittacosaurus to improve its camouflage because it counteracts the pattern of shadow cast by the body under sunlight.
The boundary of the light and dark shades is at a low level on the body, matching the profile of living animals that live in habitats with more diffused light conditions like forests, as opposed to open habitats with more direct sunlight like the savannah. Psittacosaurus is known to have lived in a forest habitat, suggesting that countershading was used by dinosaurs in the same way as living animals.
The article can be found at: Vinther et al. (2016) 3D Camouflage in an Ornithischian Dinosaur.
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Source: University of Hong Kong.
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