Art News

Study published by three authors says birdlike dinos wore basic black with glossy touch

WASHINGTON (AP).- Even dinosaurs can look sharp in basic black, and downright iridescent. An unusual crowlike dinosaur — which really doesn’t look like a dinosaur at all — had glossy black feathers that were probably used to call attention to itself and find a mate, scientists say in Thursday’s journal Science. Think nightlife at New York clubs, but 130 million years ago and in rural China, said study co-author Mark Norell of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He calls the look an “Anna Wintour special” after the Vogue editor. It’s the oldest example of the shimmering look on animals, said study co-author Julia Clarke at the University of Texas. And in other animals, especially birds, that shine is often how males attract females to mate. “It’s like shimmery clothes and garments you would wear out to big social gatherings,” said Matthew Shawkey, another co-author from the