featherlike

Fossils show that many dinosaurs and flying pterosaurs sported feather and featherlike body coverings.

There has also been some academic debate about whether pterosaur fuzz represents true feathers or featherlike pycnofibers.

“They’ve got this beautiful, ornate crown cup, and little, tiny featherlike projections sticking out of them,” Mr. Hollingworth said, describing the sea lily fossil.

The creature will help scientists better understand how featherlike structures evolved, he says.

Jingmai O’Connor, a paleontologist from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, cautioned that it was difficult to interpret feathers and featherlike structures from flattened fossils.