Dinosaur colours

How do we know that dinosaurs weren’t bright pink or rainbow-coloured?

What does a dinosaur look like? Do you imagine a bright green T. Rex? Or something that looks like a scaly old lizard? Film series such as Jurassic Park give dinosaurs a certain look but scientists now know that it’s not quite true.

Dinosaurs might have gone extinct 66 million years ago but they left clues…

Fossils are the most important evidence of prehistoric life we have. A fossil is the preserved remains of a plant or animal, found in rocks. Scientists usually find bones, but they have also found dinosaur skin, feathers and poo (coprolite).

Paleontologists are people who study fossils. They’re responsible for analysing what’s found to try and learn from it. Using high-tech imaging, special microscopes and chemical tests, they can analyse fossils more closely than ever before.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Thirty years ago, fossil hunters in China found something amazing: dinosaur fossils with feathers.

All feathers contain tiny cell structures that give them colour (melanosomes). By comparing these cells with modern birds, scientists are able to make guesses about what colour the dinosaurs might have been and what they might have looked like.

This discovery completely changed how people imagine them. Dinosaurs weren’t boring grey monsters but bright, patterned and full of colour. Sinosauropteryx had a striped ginger tail; Microraptor had dark glossy feathers like a magpie; and Anchiornis had black and white feathers with a red mohawk!

Ornithology (the study of birds) helps us understand patterns, feathers and behaviour that probably existed in dinosaurs. In our Mysteries of Science podcast, expert Mike Benton told us that feathers may have existed for a number of reasons – camouflage, warmth, but also to attract a mate.

Scales

Not all dinosaurs were feathered. There is truth to the idea that they were scaly. Paleontologists believe dinosaurs evolved over many generations from scaly creatures into modern birds. Some dinosaurs even had a mix of scales and feathers, showing evolution in action.

Fossilised skin shows different patterns, from tiny pebble-shaped scales to overlapping armour plates. Some species like Ankylosaurus were covered in scales so thick that they were basically walking tanks! Like feathers, experts think that their scales could have been used for temperature control and both camouflage and showing off.

Jigsaw’rus

All of this information helps us understand more about both the past and present. Like a jigsaw, researchers can put together fossils, scans, and computer models to rebuild what dinosaurs might have looked like and how they behaved.

New species are being discovered all the time, and laser scans and 3D printing help experts reconstruct skeletons quickly to study joints and muscles. Scientists can’t watch dinosaurs like wild animals so these techniques help them understand more.

The methods that animate dinosaurs for TV shows like Prehistoric Planet are also used by researchers and scientists. Some pieces are still missing but every discovery unlocks more answers.

Modern day dinos

Dinosaurs may be gone but new technology is bringing them back to life in ways we never could have imagined. We know that not all dinosaurs were scaly, scary monsters but experts still have questions. Could feathered dinosaurs fly? Maybe others changed colours like chameleons?

Birds are the closest living relative to dinosaurs. Next time you see a bird in your back garden and notice all its bright colours, remember that you’re looking at a real-life dinosaur!

Also

At just 12 years old, Mary Anning discovered the first ever ichthyosaur fossil. She lived in Lyme Regis, a place now well known for its dinosaur discoveries. This discovery was not her only one. She also found two nearly complete plesiosaur skeletons, a pterosaur skeleton, and lots of fish fossils!

In the early 19th century, due to her gender and her social class, Mary wasn’t allowed to join scientific groups so her achievements often went unacknowledged. Until recently not many people had heard of her but a statue now exists thanks to the Mary Anning Rocks campaign. Her incredible discoveries helped scientists understand prehistoric life.

First published in The Week Junior Science+Nature, issue 94, November 2025.