Re: Gliders to Fliers? (Was Re: Ruben Strikes Back)

["Larry Febo" <larryf@capital.net>]

----- Original Message -----
From: Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>
To: <larryf@capital.net>; <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Cc: <mbonnan@hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, September 27, 1999 8:34 AM
Subject: RE: Gliders to Fliers? (Was Re: Ruben Strikes Back)


>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-dinosaur@usc.edu [mailto:owner-dinosaur@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> > Larry Febo
> >
> >
> > Which brings to mind the dilemma...if theropods were developing
bipedality
> > in order to run faster, why would they develope feathers on the arms, or
> > larger arms for that matter. It seems this would tend to slow them down!
> >
> "Seems", yes, but do you have evidence it *would*?  That is, do you have
> evidence that animals with a covering of feathers run slower than animals
> with a covering of scales which otherwise are identical in size and shape
> (and physiology)?
>
> At least one ornithologist suggested (at the the SICB Feather Origins
> symposium) that feathers developed for streamlining on the ground first,
and
> only later became useful for flight.
>
> Additionally, there are other possible uses for feathers:
> Insulation
> Display
> Brooding
> To name a few.
>
> Furthermore, the origin of Theropoda and the origin of feathers seem (with
> current evidence) to be two separate events: theropods split off from
other
> dinosaurs first, and feathers can only be tied with confidence at present
to
> the base of Coelurosauria.  Furthermore, the majority of feathers outside
of
> Avialae are simply body coverings, not flight feathers (no surprise here
to
> any one but Martin and the Feducciaries, who have tended to equate
"feathers
> = flight = birds").
>
>
>
> Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
> Vertebrate Paleontologist
> Department of Geology Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
> University of Maryland College Park Scholars
> College Park, MD  20742
> http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm
> http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite
> Phone: 301-405-4084 Email: tholtz@geol.umd.edu
> Fax (Geol):  301-314-9661 Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796
>

Ow! I should have known better than to try that one again! After all, it was
hashed over before. I guess that streamlining makes sense and could have
happened. I actually proposed it as happening whilst feathers grew over and
eventually replaced the "pterosaur-bird" ancestors wings. (just an old anti
ground-up arguement that popped up in my head when I wasn`t thinking).