RE: FEATHERS FOR T-REX?

["Ken Kinman" <kinman@hotmail.com>]

    Being such big animals, the only way I can imagine adult tyrannosaurs 
have a thick coating of protofeathers would be if they lived in a cold 
climate (like woolly mammoths did).   The evidence is completely contrary to 
this, and an animal that size in a warm climate would have had severe 
problems with heat dissipation.  Skin impressions also argue against adult 
tyrannosaurs having a substantial covering of protofeathers.
    However, it would not surprise me if they had such a covering on the 
back end (rump and tail), especially during brooding of eggs, assuming that 
they directly brooded their eggs in some manner.  If not, protofeathers 
would have been useless except possibly for display (sexual or aggressive).
     Another two cents worth,
                  Ken


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.