What Haolong dongi says about integument variation in dinosaurs

2026 is kicking off with a bit of a bang as this week saw the release of a paper describing a new species of iguanodontian that also happened to sport some heretofore unknown integument. This new integumentary material is a series of “spikes” that surrounded the main body. These spikes are small (most were ~2–3 mm) and are comprised of epidermal material. Given their small size and numerous…