Dinosaurs: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

by David Norman

recognizably shaped feathers (with a broad vane) evolved as structures linked to the behaviour of these animals—providing colourful recognition signals, as with living birds or as part of their mating rituals, long before any genuine flight function had developed.

however, if this interpretation is correct it might now be said, with some justification, that modern birds exhibit mating behaviours first established by dinosaurs in the Mesozoic.

Jack Horner (the real-life ‘Dr Alan Grant’ in the film Jurassic Park).