Did Dinosaurs Have Feathers?
Some dinosaurs were scaly, some were fuzzy, and some were covered in feathers. And the birds outside your window? They are dinosaurs too!
The short answer: many did!
Yes, many dinosaurs had feathers. Since the 1990s, scientists have found hundreds of dinosaur fossils with feathers or fuzz preserved around their bones, especially in fine-grained rocks in China. Others, like Velociraptor, left clues in their bones that show where feathers grew.
But not every dinosaur was feathered. Skin fossils show that big plant-eaters like Triceratops were covered in scales. So the honest picture is a mix: feathers, scales, fuzz and bristles, depending on the dinosaur. Some even had both, with scales on their legs and feathers on their bodies, just like a chicken today.
What did the museum’s animals wear?
Velociraptor: feathers
Quill knobs on its arm bone show where big wing feathers attached.
Read more →
T. rex: mostly scales
Skin patches show tiny pebbly scales, smaller than a grain of rice. Maybe a few feathers too.
Read more →
Triceratops: scales
Big many-sided scales, some with a little cone in the middle.
Read more →
Brachiosaurus: bumpy scales
Its relatives’ skin fossils show scales in little flower-shaped rosettes.
Read more →
Pteranodon: fuzz
Soft, branching pycnofibers. Not a dinosaur, and whether its fuzz counts as feathers is still argued.
Read more →
Birds are living dinosaurs
Birds evolved from small, feathered, meat-eating dinosaurs, the same group that Velociraptor belongs to. That makes birds real dinosaurs, the only ones still alive today. When you see a pigeon, a chicken or an eagle, you are looking at a dinosaur!
The first big clue came in 1861, when a fossil called Archaeopteryx was found in Germany. It had feathered wings like a bird, but also teeth, claws on its hands and a long bony tail, like a dinosaur.
What were feathers for?
Most feathered dinosaurs could not fly. So why have feathers at all?
Keeping warm
Fluffy feathers trap warm air, like a down jacket.
Showing off
Colourful feathers could attract a mate or warn rivals, like a peacock’s tail.
Keeping eggs safe
Some feathered dinosaurs sat on their nests, covering their eggs with their feathered arms.
Flying, much later
Only some feathered dinosaurs, the ancestors of birds, ever used them to fly.
Fluffy Dinosaur Facts
The first fluffy dinosaur was found in 1996.
Sinosauropteryx, found in China, was covered in a coat of simple fuzz. It changed how everyone pictures dinosaurs.
A big tyrannosaur relative was feathered.
Yutyrannus, a 9-metre cousin of T. rex from China, was found with long feather-like filaments on its body.
Some dinosaurs had four feathered wings.
A tiny dinosaur called Microraptor had long feathers on its arms and its legs, and it could probably glide.
Chickens are dinosaurs.
A chicken is more closely related to T. rex than a crocodile is.
Scientists are still finding out.
Skin and feathers rarely fossilise, so every new find can change the picture. That is what keeps paleontology exciting.
Science words to know
- Feather
- A light, branching growth from the skin, found on birds and many dinosaurs.
- Scales
- Small, hard plates that cover the skin of reptiles and many dinosaurs.
- Quill knobs
- Bumps on a bone where big feathers attach.
- Evolve
- To change slowly over many generations.
Quick quiz!
0 / 31. Which of these animals is a living dinosaur?
2. Was Triceratops feathered?
3. Which old fossil has bird feathers AND dinosaur teeth?
Questions kids ask
Did all dinosaurs have feathers?
No. Many meat-eating dinosaurs and their relatives had feathers or fuzz, but others, like Triceratops and the big sauropods, had scales.
Did T. rex have feathers?
Skin patches from T. rex show small scales. It may have had a few feathers, but it was not covered in fluffy plumage. Read more in T. rex facts.
Are birds really dinosaurs?
Yes. Birds evolved from small, feathered dinosaurs related to Velociraptor. They are the only dinosaurs still alive.
How do scientists know dinosaurs had feathers?
Some fossils have feathers preserved around the bones. Others, like Velociraptor, have quill knobs on their bones where feathers attached.
Raptor Pair
Give the Velociraptor its feathers back, then guide two raptors through a desert puzzle, working together to open each gate.
✔ The whole Dinosaur Wing is free to play
No ads, ever · Plays offline · Made for young kids and adults
