Until last week, paleontologists could offer no clear-cut evidence for the color of dinosaurs. Thanks to melanosomes, researchers have provided evidence that a dinosaur called Sinosauropteryx had a white-and-ginger striped tail. Melanosomes are pigment -loaded sacs that survive for millions of years in fossil bird feathers. The shape and arrangement of melanosomes help produce the color of feathers, so scientists are now able to get clues about the color of fossil feathers from their melanosomes alone. The discovery, which the researchers reported last week in Nature, supports research showing that birds are dinosaurs, having descended from a group of bipedal dinosaurs called theropods. More at the NYT.