New paper: Shuvuuia's feathers

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

Hi, everybody.

A new paper that might interest some people (and might well escape notice,
as the journal in question is not one frequently associated with
paleontology)
:
Schweitzer, M.H., J.A. Watt, R. Avci, L. Knapp, L. Chiappe, M. Norell & M.
Marshall.  1999.  Beta-keratin specific immunological reactivity in
feather-like structures of the Cretaceous alvarezsaurid, _Shuvuuia deserti_.
Journal of Experimental Zoology (Mol Dev Evol) 285: 146-157.

A LOOONNGG awaited paper, describing Mary Schweitzer et al.'s analysis of
the feathers found on the type of _Shuvuuia_.  All that are preserved are
hollow shafts around the specimen (sorry: now well preserved plumage).  Most
of the paper concentrates on the team's biochemical analyses, which show
that the elements (as preserved) represent the decay products of the protein
beta keratin (only produced in the epidermal cells of Reptilia (including
Aves) among living tetrapods).  Futhermore, there is no evidence for the
decay products of alpha keratin: feathers alone among modern vertebrate
epidermal structures are composed only of beta keratin.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                Vertebrate Paleontologist
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
                College Park, MD  20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu
http://www.inform.umd.edu/SCHOLAR/programs/elt.html
Phone:  301-405-4084            Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661