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Re: [davis@kahaku.go.jp: Q's arising from Archaeopteryx feathers]
At 12:16 PM 9/30/96 -0500, PG wrote:
>you will have to put up with the odd strange paper appearing in your
>mailboxes from time to time.
I cry when people send me papers. No really, it upsets me so
greatly. :)
>Yes and no! The Berlin specimen shows some traces in the neck region which
>may well be body contour feathers but I have yet to convince myself. The
>others do not show any trace in the body regions. This is interesting
>because it may indicate that feathers first appeared on the wings and
>spread to the body later.
A well argued hypothesis explaining how feathers developed for
flight before they developed for insulation has yet to cross my desk. This
is why people think that them contour feathers *may* (and this is your area,
not mine, so feel free to slam) not have preserved.
>Also why do birds (on the whole - yes I know there are exceptions)
>have unfeathered tarsometatarsi? Is this a genetic
>condition from the unfeathered ancestor - most probably yes- but why did it
>stay that way?
You just answered your own question, with the point about feathers
being useless when they get in the mud...
Wagner
> (some call me PG, some call me PJ I don't mind what people call me as long
> as they don't call me late for dinner) [...]
He is the Kumquat Hagendaz!
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