This bright orange life-form could point to new dino discoveries

Tiny life-forms with bright colors might point the way to big dinosaur bone discoveries.

In the badlands of western Canada, two species of lichen prefer making their homes on dinosaur bones instead of on the surrounding desert rock, and their distinct orange color can be detected by drones, possibly aiding future dino discoveries, researchers report November 3 in Current Biology.

“Rather than finding new sites serendipitously, this approach can help paleontologists to locate new areas that are likely to have fossils at the surface and then go there to investigate,” says paleontologist Brian Pickles at the University of Reading in England.