Ancient Reptile Mirasaura Had Feather-Like Skin Appendages
Posted on July 25, 2025
A previously unknown Middle Triassic reptile, named Mirasaura grauvogeli, displayed unique feather-like skin appendages that evolved independently of birds. These appendages were found in its dorsal crest.
The crest of the Mirasaura contains individual, densely overlapping appendages that each possess a feather-like contour with a narrow central ridge. While real feathers consist of many delicate branched structures called barbs, there is no evidence of such branching in the appendages of Mirasaura. This unique feature of the reptile developed independently of birds.
The name of the creature translates as Grauvogel's Wonder Reptile. It also had a bird-like skull and snout likely used to forage for insects in trees. It had a prehensile tail and hook-tipped tail claw. The fossil was collected by Louis Grauvogel in the 1930s and transferred to the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany in 2019.
Dr Stephan Spiekman says, "The fact that we have discovered such complex skin appendages in such an ancient group of reptiles sheds a new light on their evolution. Mirasaura is even older than the dinosaurs and not closely related to them. Developmental biology studies show that the genetic basis for the growth of complex skin appendages such as feathers probably originated in the Carboniferous period more than 300 million years ago. 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."
The research paper was published in the journal, Nature.
Image: Tobias Wilhelm