RE: coelophysis

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Brandon Pilcher wrote: 


> Carnotaurus is a fairly (albeit not terrifically) big dinosaur. Perhaps, like 
> the larger Cretaceous tyrannosaurids, it was 
>descended from feathered/downy ancestors but lost them as its size increased. 
>The existence of this possibility means that we 
> cannot rule out down or feathers for the smaller Coelophysis.


I tend to agree.  Although at the moment the phylogenetic bracket for feathers 
(including 'protofeathers') is limited to Coelurosauria, or one of its 
constituent clades.  
 
 
Louis Bérubé wrote:


> As to feathers, the chance of them being on a theropod this basal is
> very slim- osteoderms are present on more derived theropods. Unless
> you're George Olshevsky.

 
"BCF" is a crock (tree-dwelling sauropods, flying tyrannosaurs, etc), but the 
idea of Late Triassic theropods such as _Coelophysis_ being feathered is much 
more plausible.  Further, the idea that basal neotheropods (or theropods) 
possessed a feather-like body covering is a testable phylogenetic hypothesis; 
BCF is not (at least not in its current form). 


Cheers

Tim
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