Question: Why did dinosaurs and birds have different types of feathers?

Bethan Charles answered on 18 Jan 2017:

My brother is a paleontologist (he studies dinosaurs for a living), he might be able to give a much more detailed answer than me, but I’m going to have a go anyway.

The last dinosaur died 65 million years ago and finding evidence of dinosaur feathers is really rare, so it’s hard to be exactly sure what dinosaur feathers were like.

But we can look at the imprints of feathers fossilised in rocks. This happens when the feather is pressed into mud but then rots away). And recently some scientists discovered a dinosaur tail with feathers trapped in amber (amber is fossilised tree sap – https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/dec/08/dinosaur-tail-trapped-in-amber-offers-insights-into-feather-evolution).

There are many similarities between dinosaur feathers and bird feathers. But when talking about modern birds, evolution has had 65 million years to subtly change the design of the feather. Also dinosaurs did not fly (even if small feathered dinosaurs may have been able to glide from tree to tree). And there are quite a few differences between feathers that just cover a body and feathers that are designed for flight (strength, shape and weight being some examples).