(FOX NEWS) – The first-ever dinosaur feather discovered does indeed belong to the archaeopteryx, according to a new study, putting an end to a controversy that has waged within the scientific community for more than 100 years.
The research compared the feather, discovered in 1861, with the fossilized remains of other archaeopteryx feathers. The experts determined its owner is no longer a mystery and it definitely belonged to archaeopteryx.
“There’s been debate for the past 159 years as to whether or not this feather belongs to the same species as the Archaeopteryx skeletons, as well as where on the body it came from and its original color,” said the study’s lead author, Ryan Carney, assistant professor of integrative biology at the University of South Florida, in a statement. “Through scientific detective work that combined new techniques with old fossils and literature, we were able to finally solve these centuries-old mysteries.”
