UCC scientists part of international team that discovered 250-million-year-old 'wonder reptile'

Discovery 'reveals a deeper, more complex evolutionary story than we ever expected', UCC palaeontologist said

Reconstruction and illustration of Mirasaura in its natural forested environment, hunting insects. Courtesy of Gabriel Ugueto

Irish palaeontologists have helped discover an ancient "wonder reptile" which completely disrupts the scientific view of how skin and feathers evolved in reptiles.

The international research team, which included experts from University College Cork (UCC), discovered the new species of fossil reptile in France, and dated to the Triassic period some 250 million years ago, with a bizarre plume on its back that is similar to feathers.