[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]
Re: Pterosaur feathers?
In a message dated 9/3/02 5:24:51 PM EST, qilongia@yahoo.com writes:
<< Oh, please. Scales are well-described, for they weren't naked skinned.
As in crocodilians and some lacertilians (e.g., helodermatids, including
fossils ones), non-overlapping, tubercular scales are known from
impressions and partial carbonized remains in various taxa. "Dave", NGMC
91 has a scalation pattern on the pes that matches birds, and distinct
gene work shows that bird-foot scales turn to feathers without much
manipulation, and there are breeds with feathers here instead (ptarmigan,
various gallinaceous fowl). Just a matter of playing with the
developments. >>
Those aren't scales, even though they look like scales. As far as I know,
feathers and croc scutes, and thus by phyletic bracketing dinosaur dermal
structures, are not homologous with lepidosaur scales, just as they're not
homologous with mammal hair.