Canadian dinosaurs may have shaken some tail feather to attract mates

Alexandra Zabjek, Edmonton Journal 

Canadian dinosaurs may have shaken some tail feather to attract mates

A University of Alberta researcher has published a paper showing the feathered tail of a group of dinosaurs called oviraptors was not used for flight or for insulation, but rather to attract mates.



EDMONTON - A group of dinosaurs that roamed Alberta 75 million years ago showed their swagger with a fan of feathers in much the same way a modern-day peacock flashes its colourful tail, new research from an Edmonton-based paleontologist suggests.

“A lot of the most flamboyant characteristics of animals tend to be associated with display and dinosaurs are no exception,” said Scott Persons, a University of Alberta PhD candidate who led the research published Friday in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Persons studied the tails of oviraptors, a group of dinosaurs that had beaks and feathers. Previous research has shown some feathered dinosaurs used their plumage for insulation and flight. Oviraptors could not fly but Persons said their tail feathers were used in much the same way as a peacock.

“I like to imagine an oviraptor strutting its stuff and showing off its tail like a peacock or modern-day turkey. You can think of it like a dinosaurian Vegas showgirl with feathers,” Persons said Thursday.

Oviraptors roamed parts of China, Mongolia and Alberta. Some of these dinosaurs were smaller than a turkey, while others were more than five metres in length. Their fans of feathers also varied in size.

While the tail plumage may have attracted mates, it also may have endangered oviraptors by slowing them down and making it easier for predators to catch them.

“But that’s kind of how sex selection works,” Persons said. “Sometimes, if you want to strut your stuff to let the female know you’ve got good genes, you need to show her you’re a risk taker and you’re able to support such a flamboyant fan of feathers.”

Previous research has shown other dinosaurs also possessed display structures, such as the small crests over the eyes of Tyrannosaurus rex, showing the animal had “sex on the brain,” Persons said. In a study published last year, a University of Calgary paleontologist found another group of dinosaurs also may have sprouted feathers as a secondary sexual characteristic.

Persons’ research focused on the tails of oviraptors. He found the vertebrae in the tails were tightly pressed together while the joints between the vertebrae were flexible. The vertebrae also had wide attachment sites for muscles that would allow the dinosaurs to raiseand twist their tails. At the end of the tail was a fusion of vertebrae that formed a ridged, blade-like structure called a pygostyle, which acts as the anchor for a fan of feathers in modern-day birds.

Added to that was the previous finding that oviraptors could not fly.

“What you’re left with is the possibility that these big feather fans were an adaptation for display. We now have evidence of dinosaurs doing pretty much everything with their feathers that modern-day birds do. They can use them for insulation, to hold in body heat, we’ve got dinosaurs with wings made of feathers that allowed them to fly, and now we know they’re also used for display. So that sort of rounds out our view of dinosaur feathers.”

Persons’ research was partly based on his study of fossils found in Mongolia, however there is also evidence oviraptors lived in Alberta.

