The oldest known case of dandruff has been identified in a small feathered dinosaur that roamed the Earth about 125m years ago. Paleontologists found tiny flakes of fossilised skin on a crow-sized microraptor, a meat-eating dinosaur that had wings on all four of its limbs. Tests on two other feathered dinosaurs, namely beipiaosaurus and sinornithosaurus, and a primitive bird known as confuciusornis, also revealed pieces of fossilised dandruff on the animals’ bodies. The prehistoric skin flakes are the only evidence scientists have of how dinosaurs shed their skin. Photograph: Maria McNamara at University College Cork“This is the only fossil dandruff known,” said Maria McNamara, who worked on the dinosaur fossils at University College Cork.

Source: The Guardian May 25, 2018 13:03 UTC