Feathery fossil ruffles dinosaur debate

larger   The bisected slab showing both halves of the Dromaeosaur fossil. This specimen provides strong evidence that dinosaurs first evolved feathers to serve a function other than flight

In this story: Feathers for warmth Not a dinosaur? RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) -- Dinosaur fossils can be huge jigsaw puzzles for scientists. In most cases, paleontologists find a rib or a skull and must draw conclusions about the rest of these monolithic animals from the fragments.

But a new, well-preserved fossil on display beginning Wednesday at the American Museum of Natural History has scientists buzzing. The find will likely stoke the debate over the origin of birds.

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Farmers in northeastern China discovered remains of the 130 million-year-old dinosaur about a year ago. The fossil was embedded in a rock and was nearly intact.

In addition to the remarkable condition and state of the fossil, the find is unique because it may have been feathered. The duck-sized animal was found in a spread-eagle pose, which makes inspection of the remains remarkably easy.

larger   Left: the tips of the tail; right: the knee

"They pulled this thing out and I couldn't believe my eyes," said Mark Norell, chairman of the division of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History. "It was just so special."

"You can see all along the top of the head as well as the shoulders there are ... small filaments that are preserved," Norell said. "If you look closely you can see, especially the ones on the back of the arm, have all the characteristics that feathers have."

Feathers for warmth

Unlike pterodactyls, which scientists know glided across pre-historic skies, this dinosaur -- a Dromaeosaur -- probably remained on the ground and used its feathers to keep warm.

Norell says the presence of feathers all over the fossil may make it the closest known relative to modern birds among non-bird dinosaurs.

Other scientists disagree.

larger   The structures of primitive feathers from the specimen: (clockwise from top left) on the forearm, the head, the shoulder and the upper arm

They contend that the tiny lines found all over the fossil could be anything from algae to strands of hair.

Not a dinosaur?

Some even believe the remains may not be a dinosaur at all, but rather a flightless bird that walked the Earth with the dinosaurs.

Dromaeosaurs were carnivores with trademark sickle-shaped claws on the second toe of its foot. The dinosaur -- whose name means "swift lizard" -- lived during the era portrayed in the movie "Jurassic Park."

Scientists believe the Dromaeosaur hunted prey by running them down, grasping them with their front claws and slashing their prey with a talon-like claw on their feet.

CNN Science Correspondent Ann Kellan contributed to this report.

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