Re: Quo vadis, T. rex? [long]

["Nicholas J. Pharris" <pharrinj@PLU.edu>]

On Tue, 6 Feb 1996, Jeff Poling wrote:

> At 04:40 PM 2/6/96 -0700, Jeffrey Martz wrote:
>    That's right.  It could just have easily been a feature of
> archaeopterygians, rather than the common ancestor of maniraptorans.
> However, what you said in your first post was "Assuming that any theropod
> except Archaeopteryx had feathers is a much bigger assumption" implying that
> that one theory carried more weight than the other.

But assuming that other theropods did not have feathers is just as big 
an assumption.

>    In any case, until _Pelecanimimus_ is fully described and put through
> peer review, I think it looks more likey that at least the common ancestor
> of ornithimimids and maniraptorans, rather than just the common ancestor of
> maniraptorans, had feathers or were well on their way to it.

Or, as I have pointed out, ornithomimosaurs may be birds, and hence 
maniraptorans, themselves, which means they have nothing new to 
contribute as far as non-avian dinosaur integument is concerned.


>    It just crossed my mind that since pterodactyls had hairlike structures,
> maybe proto-feathers are plesiomorphic for archosaurs....

Indeed.  Pterosaur "hairs" have been compared to feather shafts.


Nick Pharris
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
(206)535-8204
PharriNJ@PLU.edu

"If you can't convince them, confuse them." -- Harry S. Truman