From Newsgroup: sci.bio.paleontology

One of Feduccia's forlorn candidates for bird ancestry has been joined
by a cousin.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09167-9

Triassic diapsid shows early diversification of skin appendages in reptiles

Abstract
Complex integumentary appendages such as avian feathers and mammalian
hair play a principal role in tetrapod evolution, with critical
functions in insulation, sensation, display and flight. Although
feathers and hair originated in the stem-lineages of birds and mammals, respectively1,2, their underlying gene regulatory network has much
deeper amniote roots3. The early evolution of amniote integumentary appendages, however, remains poorly understood because of the absence of fossil evidence. Here we present Mirasaura grauvogeli, a small-sized
diapsid from the Middle Triassic epoch (about 247rCemillion years ago)
with a distinctive crest formed by elongate integumentary appendages
extending serially along its back, similar to those of the poorly
understood Triassic reptile Longisquama4,5,6,7. Despite its
superficially bird-like skull, Mirasaura is not closely related to avemetatarsalians but instead belongs to the exclusively Triassic
reptilian clade Drepanosauromorpha8. Melanosomes preserved in its integumentary appendages are consistent in geometry with melanosomes of feathers but not those of reptilian skin or mammalian hair.
Nevertheless, the morphology of the integumentary appendages and
phylogenetic placement of Mirasaura indicate that they are not
structurally homologous to feathers or other integumentary appendages in living amniotes. Our findings show that complex integumentary appendages
are not restricted to avemetatarsalians and mammaliaforms among amniotes
and evolved in a lineage basal to all extant reptiles, challenging our understanding of the evolution of the reptilian integument.

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