One of the highlights of the study was the presence of well-preserved feathers and scales.

此次发现的最大亮点在于发现了保存相当完好的羽毛和鳞片。

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In the meantime, other scientists sought to illuminate the origin of feathers by examining the scales of modern reptiles, the closest living relatives of birds. Both scales and feathers are flat.

就在同时，其他科学家们开始通过检验现代爬行动物的鳞片来试图阐明羽毛的起源，因为爬行动物与鸟类之间的亲缘关系最为接近。

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So perhaps the scales of the birds' ancestors had stretched out, generation after generation. Later their edges could have frayed and split, turning them into the first true feathers.

鳞片和羽毛都是扁平的，因此有可能鸟类祖先的鳞片经过多代繁衍之后渐渐延展开来，之后其边缘出现绽裂和缺口，于是鳞片进化成为第一缕真正意义上的羽毛。

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