Re: dinos and birds

[Mickey Mortimer <Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com>]

Jaime Headden wrote-

> <Was Schleromochlus warm and fuzzy too?>
>
>   No. Several specimens of the only known eight preserved a series of
> dorsal or ventral, belly, scales in multiple rows akin to those seen in
> aetosaurs, being broad, narrow plates around the torso. The basal
> dinosauriform *Lewisuchus* has a series of triangular scutes above its
> neck, and it is likely that *Scleromochlus,* which may be either a
> crocodylomorphan or a dinosauromorphan, had these scute and plates all
> over its body. No specimen, despite restorations to the contrary, shows
> fluffy integument or a membrane along the hindleg.

I had forgotten about these scales or scutes in Scleromochlus.  They are
placed above the dorsal column in the three specimens where they are
preserved.  But I don't think their presence can be used to argue against
filamentous integumentary derivitives, given the numerous mammals with both
fur and osteoderms/scales, even on the same area of skin (e.g., opossums,
armadillos, sloths).

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