Feathered Dinosaurs Confirmed in North America

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Of course by now, this was simply expected. Yet it is nice to haveoutright confirmation.
I also suspect that many land based dinosaurs were feathered in orderto control temperature and to allow activity during the day. Ourperception of the age of dinosaurs has changed to having a largenumber of large feathered bird like creatures running around sportinga pretty colorful plumage.
We have also expanded the type of rocks capable of containing suchfossils.
Canadianresearchers discover fossils of first feathered dinosaurs from NorthAmerica
by Staff Writers
Calgary, Canada(SPX) Oct 31, 2012
ResearcherDarla Zelenitsky from the University of Calgary holds a skull of anornithomimid preserved with feathers recovered from 75million-year-old rocks in the badlands of Alberta, Canada. Credit:Credit: Riley Brandt, University of Calgary.
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Canadian_researchers_discover_fossils_of_first_feathered_dinosaurs_from_North_America_999.html
The ostrich-likedinosaurs in the original Jurassic Park movie were portrayed as aherd of scaly, fleet-footed animals being chased by a ferociousTyrannosaurus rex. New research published in the prestigious journalScience reveals this depiction of these bird-mimic dinosaurs is notentirely accurate - the ornithomimids, as they are scientificallyknown, should have had feathers and wings.
Thenew study, led bypaleontologists Darla Zelenitsky from theUniversity of Calgary and Francois Therrien from the Royal TyrrellMuseum of Palaeontology, describes the first ornithomimid specimenspreserved with feathers, recovered from 75 million-year-old rocks inthe badlands of Alberta, Canada.
"This is a reallyexciting discovery as it represents the first feathered dinosaurspecimens found in the Western Hemisphere," says Zelenitsky,assistant professor at the University of Calgary and lead author ofthe study. "Furthermore, despite the many ornithomimid skeletonsknown, these specimens are also the first to reveal thatornithomimids were covered in feathers, like several other groups oftheropod dinosaurs."
The researchers foundevidence of feathers preserved with a juvenile and two adultsskeletons of Ornithomimus, a dinosaur that belongs to the group knownas ornithomimids. This discovery suggests that all ornithomimiddinosaurs would have had feathers.
The specimens revealan interesting pattern of change in feathery plumage during the lifeof Ornithomimus. "This dinosaur was covered in down-likefeathers throughout life, but only older individuals developed largerfeathers on the arms, forming wing-like structures," saysZelenitsky. "This pattern differs from that seen in birds, wherethe wings generally develop very young, soon after hatching."
This discovery ofearly wings in dinosaurs too big to fly indicates the initial use ofthese structures was not for flight. "The fact that wing-likeforelimbs developed in more mature individuals suggests they wereused only later in life, perhaps associated with reproductivebehaviors like display or egg brooding," says Therrien, curatorat the Royal Tyrrell Museum and co-author of the study.
Until now feathereddinosaur skeletons had been recovered almost exclusively fromfine-grained rocks in China and Germany. "It was previouslythought that feathered dinosaurs could only fossilize in muddysediment deposited in quiet waters, such as the bottom of lakes andlagoons," says Therrien.
"But thediscovery of these ornithomimids in sandstone shows that feathereddinosaurs can also be preserved in rocks deposited by ancient flowingrivers."
Because sandstone isthe type of rock that most commonly preserves dinosaur skeletons, theCanadian discoveries reveal great new potential for the recovery offeathered dinosaurs worldwide.