Zebra stripes? Leopard print? Neither were in vogue among the earliest mammals during the Age of Dinosaurs.
Early mammals and their close relatives probably sported dark, drab coats from snout to tail, researchers report in the March 14 Science. The monochrome ensembles may have helped ancient mammals blend into their nighttime surroundings and evade predators.
Many dinosaurs — especially birds — showcase a vibrant array of colorful feathers. But the diversity of fur color among modern mammals is underappreciated, says Matthew Shawkey, an evolutionary biologist at Ghent University in Belgium. “There’s obviously lots of patterns, stripes, spots, blotches, all those types of things,” he says. “But also fairly diverse