Caihong

Name: Caihong ‭(‬Rainbow‭)‬.
Phonetic: Cai-hong.
Named By: D.-Y.‭ ‬Hu,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Clarke,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Eliason,‭ ‬R.‭ ‬Qiu,‭ ‬Q.-G.‭ ‬Li,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Shawkey,‭ ‬C.-L.‭ ‬Zhao,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬D'Alba,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Jiang‭ & ‬X.‭ ‬Xu‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Anchiornithidae.
Species: C.‭ ‬juji (type).
Diet: Insectivore/Carnivore.
Size: Roughly estimated at about‭ ‬40‭ ‬centimetres long.
Known locations: China,‭ ‬Hebei Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬Tiaojishan Formation.
Time period: Oxfordian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skull and skeleton preserved on a slab,‭ ‬including feather impressions.




       Caihong is a genus of anchiornithid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the late Jurassic.‭ ‬Caihong was a very small dinosaur,‭ ‬roughly about forty centimetres long in life.‭ ‬Caihong is noted for having feathers covering the entire body except for the snout and claws.‭ ‬Study of melanosome associated with Caihong show that in life Caihong probably had black iridescent feathers over most of its body,‭ ‬while the feathers of the head,‭ ‬neck,‭ ‬chest and base of the tail were brightly coloured.‭ ‬This patterning is suggested by the observation that these feathers had platelet like melanosomes denoting colours like those seen in trumpeter birds.‭ ‬This is because the platelets are solid with no air bubbles,‭ ‬like the platelet melanosomes of these birds.‭ ‬At the time of its description,‭ ‬this also means that Caihong is the earliest known appearance of platelet like melanosomes in the fossil record.

Further reading
-‭ ‬A bony-crested Jurassic dinosaur with evidence of iridescent plumage highlights complexity in early paravian evolution.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Nature Communications‭ ‬9‭(‬217‭)‬.‭ ‬-‭ ‬D.-Y.‭ ‬Hu,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Clarke,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Eliason,‭ ‬R.‭ ‬Qiu,‭ ‬Q.-G.‭ ‬Li,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Shawkey,‭ ‬C.-L.‭ ‬Zhao,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬D'Alba,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Jiang‭ & ‬X.‭ ‬Xu‭ ‬-‭ ‬2018.



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