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Re: More evidence of dinosaur colors
Guy Leahy wrote:
> Oh, this is *so* cool:
>
> http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;science.1186290v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=dinosaur+color&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
Unlike the Nature article, this article offers some very interesting ideas for
possible behaviors that could use feather coloration:
"Alternatively, bold plumage color patterns can function in
interspecific threat and defense postures (e.g., some owls or
sunbittern, _Eurypygia helias_), in startling predators or
warning conspecifics within a flock (15), or in startling
invertebrate prey which are seized as they attempt to flee
(e.g., North American _Setophaga redstarts_, Neotropical
_Myioborus_ whitestarts, and Australian _Rhipidura wagtai_
(16, 17)."
This last point (startling small prey) reminds me of an idea I had a few years
back regarding the short wings of _Caudipteryx_. I wrote:
"Basal oviraptorosaurs (_Caudipteryx_, _Protarchaeopteryx_, _Incisivosaurus_)
also have procumbent teeth. These critters might have included arthropod prey
in their diet. One idea of mine (completely untestable, and so not worth a jot)
is that these theropods used their wings and feathered tails to flush insects
out of small trees into the open, like some birds do today (wagtails, etc)."
http://dml.cmnh.org/2007Apr/msg00313.html
At the time, the idea of reconstructing the colors of plumage in fossil
theropods seemed like science fiction. But now... maybe the idea is not
*untestable* any more. The 'wagtail' hypothesis is certainly not as wacky as
it sounded back then.
Cheers
Tim
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