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New commentary piece lead by Dr Valentina Rossi and Prof. Maria McNamara has been published in the Royal Society Open Science.

10 Sep 2026

The comment highlights issues with a recent attempts to reconstruct the original melanin-based colour in sauropod dinosaurs.

New commentary piece lead by Dr Valentina Rossi and Prof. Maria McNamara has been published in the Royal Society Open Science. The comment highlights issues with a recent attempts to reconstruct the original melanin-based colour in sauropod dinosaurs and suggest best practices for future studies on the study of colouration in extinct animals.

The Comment is Open Access: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/9/rsos260429/483227/The-colour-of-sauropod-skin-A-comment-on?utm_source=researchgate.net&utm_medium=article

Full Citation: Valentina Rossi, Maria E. McNamara; The colour of sauropod skin. A comment on: ‘Fossilized melanosomes reveal colour patterning of a sauropod dinosaur’, (2025) by Gallagher et al.R. Soc. Open Sci. 1 September 2026; 13 (9): rsos260429. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.260429

 

Original publication by Gallagher et al. 2025: Tess Gallagher, Dan Folkes, Michael Pittman, Tom G. Kaye, Glenn W. Storrs, Jason Schein; Fossilized melanosomes reveal colour patterning of a sauropod dinosaur. R. Soc. Open Sci. 1 December 2025; 12 (12): 251232. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.251232

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/12/12/251232/364075/Fossilized-melanosomes-reveal-colour-patterning-of

Maria McNamara Research Group

Experimental and analytical taphonomy

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