A new species of prehistoric reptile, Mirasaura grauvogeli, was identified by scientists. The findings were recently published in the journal Nature.
Mirasaura grauvogeli was a prehistoric animal that featured a large crest of unusual appendages along its back, representing a new type of complex skin appendage that evolved independently from feathers, scales, and hair. It also had a feather-like crest and a tail like a monkey, according to National Geographic.
At 247 million years old, Mirasaura grauvogeli predates the dinosaurs and is not closely related to them; it belongs to a very ancient group of reptiles called the drepanosauromorphs, known only from the Triassic period, as reported by Smithsonian Magazine.
"The evolutionary possibilities of reptile skin are so much stranger than previously thought," said Richard Prum, an evolutionary biologist at Yale University, according to Smithsonian Magazine. He added that the fossils reveal what must have been an extraordinary creature, with a sail almost as long as its own body.
The appendages of Mirasaura grauvogeli resemble feathers but lack the characteristic branching that feathers have. These structures are not hair and not feathers, setting them apart from known skin appendages, as reported by Trouw.
The crest of Mirasaura grauvogeli is an example of complex skin appendages formed by elongated appendages that are neither scales, feathers, nor hair, and is unlike any previously known integumentary appendage, such as horns, claws, and hair.
Newly discovered fossils of Mirasaura grauvogeli, from the Middle Triassic Grès à Voltzia site in northeast France, preserve evidence of soft-tissue features, including much of the ancient reptile's skeleton and a feather-like fan that jutted from its back.
"Mirasaura provides the first direct evidence that such structures actually did form early on in reptile evolution, in groups not closely related to birds and extinct dinosaurs," said Stephan Spiekman, a paleontologist at the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany, according to IFLScience.
The appendages of Mirasaura grauvogeli ranged up to 153 millimeters (6 inches) in length and included elongate integumentary appendages extending dorsally from the anterior part of the trunk. Compared with the size of its body, the long blades of its tall dorsal crest were enormous.
The crest of Mirasaura grauvogeli likely served a communicative function, especially with its kind, similar to how a peacock uses its feathers, according to Trouw.
The melanosomes in Mirasaura grauvogeli's sails more closely resemble those that give birds their colors than those found in reptilian skin, but differ from those in mammalian hair, as noted by Nature.
Prum further commented, "The amazing spinal crest of Mirasaura is a unique and profoundly weird addition to this list," according to Smithsonian Magazine.
After decades in the Grauvogel family, the specimens were donated to the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in 2019, where careful preparation revealed their true nature, leading experts to realize they represented an unusual reptile with a sail back.
This discovery adds an intriguing dimension to future research into the origins of feathers, prompting paleontologists to consider fossils from more diverse reptile groups and from time periods before the appearance of dinosaurs and their direct ancestors.
The discovery of Mirasaura grauvogeli suggests that the genetic roots of skin appendages could date back to a time before the emergence of modern reptiles, indicating a complex evolutionary pathway, according to IFLScience.
Hans Sues, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, said, "It completely blew my mind when I first saw the small skeleton with the crest," as mentioned in Smithsonian Magazine.
The evolution of reptiles is more complex than previously thought, as evidenced by the presence of complex skin appendages in ancient reptiles like Mirasaura grauvogeli and Longisquama insignis, which offers new perspectives on their evolution.
Mirasaura grauvogeli belongs to a group of unusual extinct reptiles called drepanosauromorphs, which split off long ago from other reptiles and are distinguished by a combination of unique character states.
The preparation of this article relied on a news-analysis system.