Re: dinos and birds

[Mickey Mortimer <Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com>]

Dora Smith wrote-

> Pterosaurs furry and warm-blooded?  What did I miss?

Yes, pterosaurs have a kind of filamentous integument similar to mammalian
fur or dinosaurian stage 1 feathers, but probably not homologous with
either.  This is shown by many specimens from the Yixian Formation (eg.
Beipiaopterus, Jeholopterus, Pterorhynchus), as well as Sordes and less
obvious Solnhofen specimens.  The presence of such a covering and the
ability to fly argue quite convincingly for endothermy.
See http://www.dinosaur.pref.fukui.jp/archive/memoir/memoir001-019.pdf

> Do I correctly understand that pterosaurs weren't even dinosaurs?

Correct.  They may not even be archosaurs.  Their origins are highly
debated, the main possibilities being-
1. Prolacertiform basal archosauromorphs related to Longisquama and
Cosesaurus.
2. Avemetatarsalian archosaurs related to Scleromochlus and dinosauromorphs
(dinosaurs, Marasuchus, Lagerpeton, etc.).

Mickey Mortimer
Undergraduate, Earth and Space Sciences
University of Washington
The Theropod Database - http://students.washington.edu/eoraptor/Home.html