Flying dinosaurs could change the colour of their feathers, UCC researchers find

An international team of palaeontologists has discovered remarkable new evidence that pterosaurs, the flying relatives of dinosaurs, were able to control the colour of their feathers using melanin pigments. Picture: Bob Nicolls 

A new study led by palaeontologists at University College Cork (UCC) has revealed remarkable new evidence that has solved a long-running mystery about the flying relatives of dinosaurs.

Through the study, an international team of palaeontologists have discovered that flying reptiles, pterosaurs were capable of controlling the colour of their feathers by using melanin pigments.