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。

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

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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。

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.

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因为鸟类羽毛和爬行动物的鳞片都包含黑素体——这是一种微小的囊状结构，其中包含了各种各样的黑色素，于是很多古生物学家开始怀疑恐龙羽毛是否也含有黑素体。

Bird feathers and reptile scales contain melanosomes-tiny sacs holding varieties of the pigment melanin. Many paleontologists suspected that dinosaur feathers also contained melanosomes.

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