Re: Feathering in coelurosaurs

["Patrick Norton" <ptnorton@email.msn.com>]

Mary Nalasco wrote:

>I was just wondering around what size range feathers would start to become
more of a hassle than they're worth>

Feathers perform many functions, so the answer is not simply a question of
mass.  The fossil record appears to show a range of feather-like
integumentary structures in both non-volant and volant ancestors of modern
birds.

> I was just wondering..(snip)..if there's any reason why some of the small
tyrannosaurs wouldn't have feathers.<

There is no direct evidence for it, but nothing that I'm aware of would
argue *against* young (or even adult) tyrannosaurs possibly retaining that
ancestral feature.

Pat