Re: If Dinosaurs Could Fly

["Dave L. Hardenbrook" <DaveH47@delphi.com>]

At 10:42 AM 1/20/98 +1300, Derek Tearne wrote:
>Down feathers are extremely good insulators.  This doesn't mean that
>a less perfect insulator may not have evolved for that purpose.
>
>Kiwi feathers are pretty good insulators even though they are not
>'downy' at all, more like long thick hairs with a bad case of split
>ends than down.  Animal hairs serve well as insulation without the
>need for them to be fluffy like down.  Perhaps the original proto
>feather was indeed some kind of thick hair used for insulation.

That's what I thought...I thought the protobirds had evolved 
"feather-scales" (to use John McLoughlin's term) as insulation
long before they had become true feathers for flight (and better
insulation)...


                             -- Dave


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Dave Hardenbrook, E-Mail: DaveH47@delphi.com 
                  URL:    http://people.delphi.com/DaveH47/  
 Computer Programmer, Honorary Citizen of the Land of Oz,
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  "When we are young we read and believe
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