#multiple regulatory modules

Feathered velociraptors aren’t news, but have you ever wondered how their scales evolved into feathers in the first place?

In a recent study, scientists caused specific genes to express themselves in an alligator embryo, causing the scales of the reptile to form appendages. The appearance of these cells could be the same way in which feathers began to evolve in dinosaurs 150 million years ago, eventually leading to the evolution of the modern birds we live amongst now.