Re: Origin of feathers

["Norton, Patrick" <Patrick.Norton@state.me.us>]

On 4/22/98 at 9:24 AM, Jonathan wrote:

>If you've seen the most; recent fossil of O. sitting on it's nest, you   
can see it is trying; to cover its eggs to protect them from the   
presumably scorching; heat of the Mongolian desert.  But, without   
feathers, it would have; only covered some of the eggs.  Orsen took the   
picture of the; Oviraptor fossil and superimposed primary feathers onto   
its; forearm and lo and behold they would have perfectly covered; the   
eggs.  Makes a lot of sense, perhaps more so than any of; the other   
theories.   It would have offered a great selective advantage; to those   
animals which could protect their eggs and subsequently; their young   
after hatching.  Then feathers could have been exapted; for flight.<
<
This seems reasonable and perfectly consistent with the theory that   
feathers first served the purpose of reducing heat transfer to the body   
by shading. Feathers are an excellent insulating material.  But unless   
Orsen is suggesting that Oviraptor was a flyer, I would not expect to see   
primary feathers--a derived flight character--on its forearm. Modern   
brooding birds protect their eggs from the sun (and the cold) with   
fluffed up body feathers. In any event, at the moment of death this   
particular Oviraptor was probably protecting its eggs against something   
other than the sun.