RE: Microraptor also ate fish

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

On Mon, Apr 22nd, 2013 at 11:28 AM, Jason Brougham <jaseb@amnh.org> wrote:

> One paper actually finds that iridescent plumage is poorly water repellent, 
> so we might expect
> that Microraptor would show especially poor performance in water, having been 
> found in one 
study
> to be iridescent.
> 
> Eliason, C.M. and M.D. SHAWKEY. 2011. Decreased hydrophobicity of iridescent 
> feathers: a
> potential cost to shiny plumage. Journal of Experimental Biology 214:2157-63. 

That would certainly explain why all the Microraptor fossils known from aquatic 
sediments are of 
*dead* individuals. :-)

-- 
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Dann Pigdon
Spatial Data Analyst               Australian Dinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia               http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj
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