In the first Jurassic Park movie, the vicious velociraptors were depicted as scaly beasts. But by the third instalment, these dinosaurs sported a crest of feathers.

That decision appears to have been on the right track, with a team of US scientists reporting the first direct evidence the turkey-sized, meat-eaters had feathered forearms.

While it has been thought the non-flying velociraptors would have feathers, proof has been difficult to find, because feathers are not usually preserved in fossils.