How would you like feathers to be applied to future models?

[Neosodon]

Skin impression fossils of therapod dinosaurs are very rare and most of the ones that are found are only of tiny coin sized sections of the dinosaur's body. Some therapods are believed to be partially scaly and partially feathery. This leaves most species believed to have feathers subject to artistic preference as to how the feathers grew. Here are 5 ideas on how they could look. Which one would you like to see applied to future models?

A. Just ornamental feathers like on the head, neck or spine for display.


B. Partial feathering on the back covering 50% or less of the body.


C. Feathers scattered around most of the body but small, thin and not that noticeable.


D. A coating layer of feathers that is short but covers most of the body.


E. Long and heavy, ideal for insulation.

[The Atroxious]

It really depends on the dinosaur. For instance, until further notice, I think of Tyrannosaurus being either B or C, whereas Guanlong seems more likely to be D or E, since the fossils of more basal tyrannosaurs show extensive feathering, but despite skin impressions from several genera, tyrannosaurines have so far shown only scales, making me think the feathering was heavily reduced, if not entirely absent (though at this point, I'm not betting on the latter).

Disregarding features inferred by tangentially related evidence, however, if we're talking purely about artistic preference, I like E the best, though I prefer some more variance in feather thickness for a more interesting silhouette, such as a ruff on the neck or chest, or slightly shorter feathers on the legs.

[Neosodon]

Some companies already seem to have a preference with feather type.

Wild Safari leans E.

Collecta uses mostly D.

Shleich.... Well their 2017 Utahraptor seems like an attempt at B. But atleast their showing originality.

[Faelrin]

If it's going to be feathered, I'd like for it to adhere to the evidence (assuming there is integument discovered for the particular animal in question), and to be realistic. I really don't care for interpretations of dinosaurs that are mostly scaly with feathers jutting out like spikes (especially on the arms). If it's going to have wings, I'd prefer there to be primaries too, unless there's supporting evidence against it for the animal in question (though I don't know how likely that scenario is). So something between D and E for me, if it will be feathered, but again, it all depends on what kind of evidence is for a particular animal.

[Patrx]

All of these images leave the animals' faces unfeathered, which tends to look weird to me.



Something like this Mark Witton Tyrannosaurus would be optimal in many cases 

[spinosaurus1]

[Silvanusaurus]

If it's going to be fully feathered, then I'd really rather not see the feathers just stop at the head without good reason. The image above - the charcoal coloured T rex by John Conway, looks about perfect to me. Though I think it's very difficult to sculpt that kind of subtlety at the scale of most toys.

[Neosodon]

If it's going to be fully feathered, then I'd really rather not see the feathers just stop at the head without good reason. The image above - the charcoal coloured T rex by John Conway, looks about perfect to me. Though I think it's very difficult to sculpt that kind of subtlety at the scale of most toys.

Allot of vultures have feathers that stop at the head for eating carcasses. The same trait could have been in some carnivores dinosaurs too.

[stargatedalek]

If it's going to be fully feathered, then I'd really rather not see the feathers just stop at the head without good reason. The image above - the charcoal coloured T rex by John Conway, looks about perfect to me. Though I think it's very difficult to sculpt that kind of subtlety at the scale of most toys.

Allot of vultures have feathers that stop at the head for eating carcasses. The same trait could have been in some carnivores dinosaurs too.

Actually vultures have bald heads to aid in temperature regulation due to extreme ascending and descending, it has nothing to do with eating. Gulls and bald eagles both for example are probably even more reliant on scavenging than some vultures, and they get along just fine with bright white feathered heads!

[Halichoeres]

There's a harrowing video on youtube of a giant petrel and a penguin that graphically illustrates why feathers on the neck and face are no impediment to getting a bird's head wet with gore.

[Silvanusaurus]

If it's going to be fully feathered, then I'd really rather not see the feathers just stop at the head without good reason. The image above - the charcoal coloured T rex by John Conway, looks about perfect to me. Though I think it's very difficult to sculpt that kind of subtlety at the scale of most toys.

Allot of vultures have feathers that stop at the head for eating carcasses. The same trait could have been in some carnivores dinosaurs too.

without good reason

Forgive me if I cannot see the 'good reason' in using the feature of a very specific and relatively unique extant bird to set an example for how to reconstruct the integuement of an animal like a Tyrannosaurus rex.

[The Atroxious]

Actually vultures have bald heads to aid in temperature regulation due to extreme ascending and descending, it has nothing to do with eating. Gulls and bald eagles both for example are probably even more reliant on scavenging than some vultures, and they get along just fine with bright white feathered heads!

Several types of bald-headed vultures also seem to benefit from the lack of feathers for communication purposes. They will flush or drain blood from the bare skin on their heads during interactions with other vultures. Also, I wouldn't say gulls and eagles are more reliant on scavenging than vultures (though there is one primarily frugivorous vulture, so if you're counting that one, I suppose it's true) since many vultures are entirely reliant on scavenging, and they're the only animals with the capability of doing so. Certainly gulls and eagles will scavenge whenever they can, but they lack the specialized adaptations vultures posses to find dead animals. That said, there are a few types of vultures such as the lappet-faced and cinereous vulture that will rarely hunt live prey. It is thought they only do this when they can't locate any other food, since cinereous and lappet-faced vultures are often reliant on Gyps vultures to find a meal, since they aren't built for long-distance searching as Gyps vultures are.

That said, some petrels obtain a large part of their diet from scavenging, similar to gulls and eagles, and giant petrels are known as especially messy feeders, far more so than vutures tend to be, and they have fully feathered heads (they're relatives of albatrosses, and they have the same type of plumage). Moreover, there are several types of non-raptorial birds that will have bald heads or faces, most notably certain species of ground fowl, which suggests that baldness has less to do with feeding habits and more to do with other adaptations.

[Megalosaurus]

Hello.

Interesting data The Atroxious. Seems you love birds or are you a zoologist?

...

My choices will be mostly A and C.
But the correct aproach to me will be: respect the actual fossil material.
If there's no preserved of soft integument, don't add it to the model. If there is, then add it according to the general cientific consensus at the time.

[CityRaptor]

I guess they filled the gaps in the genome of that frog with Dinosaur DNA.

@Megalosaurus:
If we respect the fossil record, many models would lack skin allrogether. Muscles we can reconstuct from the bones, but the skin remains unknown. For the record, there is also no fossil evidence that Smilodon has fur. So it should be reconstructed as a  furless cat.

[Megalosaurus]

I guess they filled the gaps in the genome of that frog with Dinosaur DNA.

@Megalosaurus:
If we respect the fossil record, many models would lack skin allrogether. Muscles we can reconstuct from the bones, but the skin remains unknown. For the record, there is also no fossil evidence that Smilodon has fur. So it should be reconstructed as a  furless cat.

I know. Thank you. I think that if we have tarbosaurus scale impresions, lets go with scales, we have microraptor feathers, lets feather it. I'm fine with inferring integument from closest known species. I don't mean to be rude, just I'm not in favor is with the tendence to put a peackoc / turkey cover and eagle wings to every theropod or even marginocephaleans.


Did you thinked I was joking? 


By the way your furless smilodon idea is a pretty interesting. I find sphynx cats beautiful.

[stargatedalek]

It's unfair to compare applying pennaceous feathers to a Triceratops to feathering a Tarbosaurus. Firstly is the wealth of genetic evidence in favour of feathering Tyrannosaurs, but even the impressions themselves are a moot ground to stand on. The described Tarbosaurus scale impressions are from the lower leg and underside of the foot. Even the dewlap, which remains not only unpublished, but may have been bare skin and not scales, is nigh ground to stand on when such decorative features are so common among modern dinosaurs.

No say that impressions trump genetics, especially when we only have such minimal impressions present, is only setting ones self up for disappointment. The most likely conclusion is not the one with the most raw evidence going for it, but rather the one that least conflicts with the overall evidence compiled.

[Verahin]

The John Conway one is probably the best depiction to date, a figure inspired by it, also adopting this dark grey/black shade, would be fantastic. On the other hand the Saurian version looks like a sick individual to me, this partial feathering is asburd in my opinion.

[spinosaurus1]

The John Conway one is probably the best depiction to date, a figure inspired by it, also adopting this dark grey/black shade, would be fantastic. On the other hand the Saurian version looks like a sick individual to me, this partial feathering is asburd in my opinion.

i am of complete opposite spectrum of your viewpoint about the saurian rex and think it represents a fantastic rendition of BHI 3033 incorporating known integument from a variate of  tyrannosaurs. but let opinions be opinions.

[stargatedalek]

I like the Saurian Tyrannosaurus in general, but the feathers ending just behind the eye for no reason is quite distracting and I will agree to an extent sickly looking.

[Neosodon]

I like the Saurian Tyrannosaurus in general, but the feathers ending just behind the eye for no reason is quite distracting and I will agree to an extent sickly looking.

The darkness around the solid brown eyes and the abrupt ragged ending of the feathers on the tail give the whole thing a kind of dead decaying look to me.