RE: Feathers for T-rex?

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

> From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Michael Lovejoy
>
> A few months back, we had a thread on the possibility of
> feathered T-rexes.
> Most people shot this idea down, but in a recent (unrelated)
> post, Doc Holtz
> wrote: "...compsognathids, oviraptorosaur, therizinosauroids, and
> dromaeosaurids...from China...share either simple "protofeathers" or
> honest-to-goodness feathers...the simplest explanation is that
> their common
> ancestor shared the derived trait of "feathers"...There remains the
> possibility that large coelurosaurs did indeed lose this feature, but one
> would need to find positive evidence to the contrary to
> sustain this."
> Okay, so maybe I'm reading to much into this, but surely this
> means we must
> assume T-rex was at least partially feathered until we find
> evidence to the
> contrary? Anyone got an opinion?

My opinion is that you have stated the case accurately and directly.  That
should be the operating assumption until additional data to the contrary are
added.

                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/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
Phone:  301-405-4084    Email:  tholtz@geol.umd.edu
Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661       Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796