If dinosaurs could fly...

[Martin Human <martin@hpentccl.grenoble.hp.com>]

Supposing down feathers first evolved as insulation for an
(semi?)aquatic dinosaur/bird? 

Even an endotherm needs insulation in water, with a heat loss rate >25
times that in air...

Betty Cunningham wrote:

>Animal hair best suited to insulation is thin and floppy and covers the anmal
>more thickly than non-insulating hairs (it's smaller at the base, for one 
>thing)
>This retains body heat trapped in individual air pockets.  We all know that.

Only in air....Seal fur? Sea-otter fur? Sea-lion fur? I don't see this
as loose and floppy....

cheers, martin
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Martin Human
TID Information Development Group, Hewlett-Packard, Grenoble, France
[33] 4 76 14 65 34
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