Raptor had feathers on its forearm, scientists say

WASHINGTON - The vicious little dinosaur, velociraptor, was a feathered fiend, according to scientists who found evidence of quills on the well-known meat-eater's forearm.

In research published yesterday, paleontologists said a forearm bone of velociraptor found in Mongolia's desolate Gobi desert retained structures, or quill knobs, where a series of feathers were anchored to the bone with ligaments.

No actual fossils of the feathers were found, but the researchers said quill knobs would not exist without feathers. They are present in many bird species alive today.

The researchers said the discovery is a further indication that many carnivorous dinosaurs, and not just the smallest, possessed feathers. They added that the presence of feathers, which among other qualities provide insulation, was another sign that these may have been warm-blooded animals.

"If a person saw a velociraptor today, they would say, 'What the heck is that? It's some really weird bird,' " Alan Turner of the American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University in New York, said in a telephone interview.

Scientists have found, particularly at one site in China, fossils of small carnivorous dinosaurs and others preserved with feathers. Some scientists think larger predators, perhaps even Tyrannosaurus rex, may have had feathers or downy "protofeathers," at least as juveniles.

This velociraptor's remains date back 80 million years to the Cretaceous Period and were uncovered in 1998, the researchers report in the journal Science.

Scientists believe birds, which first appeared roughly 150 million years ago, evolved from small feathered carnivorous dinosaurs. While velociraptor was a very close relative of birds, it could not fly. So, why did it have feathers? Feathers may have been useful for display as seen in birds like the peacock, for temperature control, to shield nests, or to maneuver while running, researchers said.

Velociraptor is thought to have been a fast and deadly bipedal hunter, preying on small- and medium-size dinosaurs, as well as lizards, mammals, and probably any other animal that had the bad fortune of looking like dinner.