Birds are the last dinosaurs on Earth, but as we are used to their presence, we rarely see in them the extinct creatures that once dominated the planet.
This animal class retains a much more extensive legacy than we think. Example of it could be the brilliant plumage that some species shine.
This was demonstrated by the "rainbow dinosaur", baptized in that way by the iridescent tone of its plumage.
This newly discovered specimen in China testifies to the link between large reptiles and birds as small as hummingbirds, but it is also one more link in the evolutionary chain of the Earth.
According to a study published in the scientific journal Nature, the fossilized animal lived 161 million years ago in Asian territory.
For the authors, it was an animal worth seeing, because it had on its head, wings and tail beautiful feathers, with colors that shone and changed with light.
Named Caihong Juji, it was discovered by a farmer in northeastern China in 2014.
When the scientists recovered the fossils they found a small animal, about the size of a duck, with a bony crest on its head and long, ribbon-shaped feathers that attract attention.
The scientists analyzed the mysterious feathers with an electron microscope and found traces of melanosomes, that is, cell traces of organic pigment.
Later research revealed all the colors and the glow of the original plumage of this prehistoric bird. "The pigment in the feathers is black, but the shapes of the melanosomes that produce that pigment are what make us see the colors in the feathers of the hummingbird," explained the Nature article.
On the other hand, the authors of the study point out that Caihong is also the oldest known animal with asymmetric feathers, characteristic of modern birds to direct the flight.