FEATHERS DO NOT = ENDOTHERMY

["Darren Naish" <dwn194@soton.ac.uk>]

With reference to the discovery of feathers in a small theropod, a somewhat
elated Nick Longrich says:

> Everyone realizes, of course, that this is the most ironclad evidence of
> endothermy (at the very least, in one large branch of Dinosauria) you could
> ever ask for. It just doesn't get any better than this. 

Well.. I hate to be the one to point it out, and don't think I'm necessarily
saying that your point is _wrong_, but feathers may not be indicative of
endothermy. Chiappe, Chinsamy and Dodson looked at thin-sections of
_Patagopteryx_ and enantiornithine bone and concluded that these birds were not
endothermic as are modern birds (I don't have the literature to hand, so I won't
attempt to paraphrase their conclusions). Yet no-one (I think) would doubt that
these forms were feathered - hey, we even have feather impressions for some of
the enantiornithines. 

HYPSILOPHODONT SKIN

With regard to dinosaur skin, I do recall reading a paper by Peter Galton where
he mentioned an integumentary impression from a hypsilophodont (it was scaly).
I have a feeling it was published in some kind of tribute volume or something
similar. Anybody know the ref?

"If there were a hostile civilization out there, that really wanted to invade
us in a military sense, we wouldn't have a ghost of a chance."

DARREN NAISH