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Re: four winged Archaeopteryx



john hunt wrote: 
> So why exactly did Archie have feathers on the tail?

Aerodynamics? Display? A bit of both?

I get the impression that Archie's environment was fairly tropical, so I
doubt archie really needed much insulation on its tail. If Archie didn't
get any aerodynamic benefit for such an extensive frond of tail
feathers, and insulation was the primary use of the feathers, then
surely dino-fuzz would have been a better option? Less volant
avetheropods (avialans?) seem to have retained feathered fans only on
the tips of the tail, with dino-fuzz covering the rest of the length.

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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist         http://heretichides.soffiles.com
Melbourne, Australia        http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
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