Re: Did Feathers Evolve for Dispaly? We Still Don't Know!

[Nick Pharris <npharris@umich.edu>]

It's also worth bearing in mind that the so-called "white" areas on  
the tail of *Sinosauropteryx* are really just areas that lack melanin.  
 There could still have been other pigments present (like  
carotenoids, which produce hues in the yellow/orange/red range) that  
would not have been evident in the present study.

--Nick P.

Quoting Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>:

> On Fri, Jan 29th, 2010 at 4:02 PM, Mickey Rowe <mickeyprowe@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > You [Michael Erickson] say "orange and white banded
> > coloration would serve purposes of camouflage just as well".  And
> > you know this how?
>
> Such a colour scheme seems to work for red pandas.
> http://mansionapartmentshackhouse.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/redpanda.jpg
>
> Orange and white coat patterns are quite common in modern animals -  
> and although they seem to
> scream 'here I am' to us colour visioned beasties when the animals  
> are out in the open (especially
> against green grass), they can be surprisingly difficult to spot in  
> any sort of cover or dappled shade.
>
> --
> _____________________________________________________________
>
> Dann Pigdon
> GIS Specialist                         Australian Dinosaurs
> Melbourne, Australia               http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
> _____________________________________________________________



--
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Nicholas J. Pharris