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Integumentary Structures in Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, a Basal Neornithischian Dinosaur from the Jurassic of Siberia

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The Evolution of Feathers

Part of the book series: Fascinating Life Sciences ((FLS))

Abstract

Recent studies on the origin of feathers have been stimulated by discoveries of feather-like structures in various nonavian theropod dinosaurs from Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits in northeastern China. Filamentous integumentary structures are also known in two ornithischian dinosaurs from China, but whether these filaments form part of the evolutionary lineage of feathers has been controversial. Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, a basal neornithischian dinosaur from the Jurassic of Siberia, preserves diverse integumentary structures, including monofilaments, more complex protofeather structures and scales on its tail and distal parts of its limbs. These exceptionally preserved specimens suggest that integumental features were diversified even in ornithischian dinosaurs and that “protofeather”-like structures were potentially widespread among the entire dinosaur clade.

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank C. Foth and O. Rauhut for inviting them to write this chapter. C. Foth and R. Butler reviewed an earlier version of this chapter and made many constructive and helpful comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Directorate ‘Earth and History of Life’, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium

    Pascal Godefroit & Aude Cincotta

  2. Institute of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Cryology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chita, Russia

    Sofia M. Sinitsa & Svetlana A. Reshetova

  3. Department of Geology, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium

    Aude Cincotta

  4. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

    Aude Cincotta & Maria E. McNamara

  5. Department of Biology, Université Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France

    Danielle Dhouailly

Authors
  1. Pascal Godefroit
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  2. Sofia M. Sinitsa
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  3. Aude Cincotta
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  4. Maria E. McNamara
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  5. Svetlana A. Reshetova
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  6. Danielle Dhouailly
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pascal Godefroit .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Christian Foth

  2. Department for Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Palaeontology and Geobiology, GeoBioCenter, München, Germany

    Oliver W. M. Rauhut

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Godefroit, P., Sinitsa, S.M., Cincotta, A., McNamara, M.E., Reshetova, S.A., Dhouailly, D. (2020). Integumentary Structures in Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, a Basal Neornithischian Dinosaur from the Jurassic of Siberia. In: Foth, C., Rauhut, O. (eds) The Evolution of Feathers. Fascinating Life Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27223-4_4

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