DPterosaur's thoughts on the....

[Stang1996@aol.com]

    DPterosaur's thought's on the evolution and inheritence of 
thermoregulatory insulative intiguement in the as-of-yet unnamed 
outgroup of Ornithodires (=ornithodires + pterosaurs).

    In short.  DPterosaur, do you think that the hair in Pterosaurs is 
from a common ancestor as feathers?  If not, when do you think that 
hair evolved in pterosaurs and feathers evolved in dinosaurs?  Also, 
everyone else on the list; what are your thoughts on this issue?

    In my opinion, whether or not pterosaurs are dinosaurs or even 
ornithodires, the fact that they had hair leads me to suspect it had a 
common ancestor as feathers in dinosaurs.  I would think it strange 
that two different types of thermoregulatory devices be evolved in two 
*fairly* close groups entirely seperate of eachother.  That is, in other 
words, I believe that the small primative ornithodires + pterosaurs 
were hairy, that lagosuchids and such were hairy, and that small 
dinosaurs were hairy.  I think that theropods (and maybe all 
saurischians, and maybe all dinosaurs) had some feathers in some 
form or another; though maybe feathers evolved when dinosaurs were 
experimenting with flight.  I think it would be a little bit silly to imagine

large dinosaurs with feathers/hair because a) skin impressions show 
that most big dinosaurs didn't have them, and b) they wouldn't need 
them anyway.  I do however think that the young of all dinosaurs 
were hairy or feathered.

    That's just my opinion.  I am awaiting DPterosaur's and everyone 
else's

Peter Buchholz
Stang1996@aol.com

P.S. DPterosaur:  Good Job.  I think by claiming that Pterosaurs 
belong outside of the Ornithodira, you got Kevin Padian riled up 
enough to leave lurker-hood : ).