RE: Integument. . . extant vx extinct

[Michael Mortimer <mickey_mortimer111@msn.com>]

Michael Skrepnick wrote-

> Have a look at this bizarre little beauty. . .
>
> http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/03/08/crustacean-fur060308.html
>
> Seeing is of course believing and in the case of fossil specimens at least 
> half way to believing ( depending upon the source of academic 
> interpretation ).  The point. . . if a creature like this were unknown to 
> science ( as this one was until just recently ), but instead an ancient 
> counterpart were discovered in a fine grain sediment in which detail was 
> nicely preserved, how difficult would it be for the scientific community to 
> accept such an anomaly with unexpected hirsute covering?  Some might 
> interpret or discount the evidence within the slab as an occurance of 
> dendrites, collagen, etc. . . but who would willingly accept or expect a 
> creature of the deep to be shrouded as is the "Yeti crab". Do discoveries 
> like these make it easier when considering ( cladistics aside for the 
> moment ) phenomena like proto-feathers on dinosaurs?

In all fairness, hair seems to be widespread among crustaceans.  Just from 
my dining experiences, I can recall the tail fins of lobsters are lined with 
hair, and I think king crabs have tufts on their claws.  So this new 
galatheoid is more like a mammoth being found when only modern elephants 
were known, as opposed to finding fully feathered dinosaurs when all you 
know are ones with crocodilian-like integument.

Mickey Mortimer