ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Feathered dinosaurs

Hello there! Do you know about dinosaurs? They are giant animals that lived a very long time ago. Some of them had big bones that made them look scary and tough, while others had wings like birds!

Now, feathered dinosaurs were those dinosaurs that had feathers on their bodies. But why did they have feathers? Well, just like birds, these dinosaurs could fly or glide through the air. The feathers helped them to keep warm and also helped to control their movement in the air. Feathers also helped them to attract mates, just like when some birds show off their colorful feathers to impress their potential partners.

Some examples of feathered dinosaurs are the Velociraptor, which was a small predator that lived in Asia, and the Archaeopteryx, which is sometimes called the first bird. This dinosaur had wings and feathers, but it also had a long tail with sharp claws, just like other dinosaurs.

Scientists think that most dinosaurs did not have feathers, however, some of them did. So, while some dinosaurs were scaly like modern-day lizards, some of them had feathers like modern-day birds. Isn't it amazing?
Related topics others have asked about: