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

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-02-06 19:49:46 EST, martz@holly.ColoState.EDU (Jeffrey
Martz) writes:

>     Why?  You are assuming that feathers evolved in the common ancestor 
>of all maniraptorans.  It could just have easily have been a later 
>innovation of one small group, which eventually led to Archaeopteryx.  
>Its largely a question of when feathers first appeared, something that is 
>NOT known.
>
>

Not quite "NOT known."

The peculiar structures seen in _Longisquama_, which strongly resemble (but
are not--or at least not yet) feathers, are the only evidence we have of
 what pre-feathers may have looked like. This is from the Late Triassic, and
if they _are_ pre-feathers, then _Longisquama_ should perhaps be considered a
pre-bird.