Fossil hints at colourful pterosaur feathers

A remarkable fossil reveals that pterosaurs might have been covered in brightly coloured feathers. The exquisitely preserved Tupandactylus imperator shows the soft tissues of the animal’s crest and filament structures that suggest that it had true feathers. The fossil also preserves melanosomes: tiny organelles that contain melanin and cause much of the colouring in features and skin. Researchers found different types of melanosome, suggesting that it sported various colours — and that its feathers weren’t just to keep it warm.