Incredible Pterosaur Fossil Proves Once And For All That Flying Dinosaurs Had Feathers – Not Fur

Artist’s reconstruction of the feathered pterosaur Tupandactylus, showing the feather types along the bottom of the headcrest: dark monofilaments and lighter-coloured branched feathers. (Bob Nicholls 2022/Zenger).

One of the great unsolved mysteries about dinosaurs as to whether flying pterosaurs had feathers or fur has been solved after the discovery of a remarkable prehistoric fossil that can be clearly seen to have been feathered.

An international team of paleontologists has now officially presented this fossil proof that pterosaurs, the flying relatives of dinosaurs, not only had feathers but were also able to control the color of their feathers using melanin pigments.