Is there any way to know what color

dinosaurs were?

Fossilized skeletons reveal the size and shape of dinosaurs,

But we've had a harder time

figuring out the features of soft tissue,

including skin colour.

Reonstructures of dinosaurs in museums, movies and paintings

often show dinosaurs in drab colors,

the kind they use in military fatigues.

Better for blending into the background.

This mutipality is certainly plausible.

After all, crocodiles and alligators,

the close cousins of dinosaurs,

are dressed in these drab hues.

But other evidence suggests

some dinosaurs might've been flashy.

Birds are descended from dinosaurs,

so it stands to reason,

that some dinosaurs might've be brightly colored,

just like birds are.

Rainbow hues may have helped dinosaurs attracts mates

or repel rivals

The same thing we see happened

in their winged descendants.

But scientists aren't limited to inferring dinosaur colors

only from their living relatives.

In recents years, they found structures called Melanosomes

in dinosaur fossils.

These structures contain pigments,

that give skin and feather its color.

By looking at Melanosomes,

researchers determined a small miditing dinosaur

called Sinosauropteryx,

had a tail bearing red and white stripes.

And the feather dinosaur,

Anchiomis Huxleyi,

apparently sported black and white plumage.

White stripes on its wings and leggs,

and a red crust on its head.

So far, scientists have only found pigments in a few dinosaurs fossils.

So for now, artists will have to rely on modern day animals

to guide their reconstructions.

But with new fossil finds

and better techniques for identifying ancient pigments,

It won't be long,

before dinosaurs show us,

their true colors.

For Scientific American's Instant Egghead.

I'm Eric Olson.