Re: Feathered Theropods -Reprise

[Jeff Poling <jpoling@dinosauria.com>]

At 05:17 PM 9/27/98 -0400, TRUETT GARNER wrote:
>Thanks to Jeff for a very succinct explanation of his viewpoint,( which I
>highly respect ) and thanks to Brian for bringing the issue more into focus
>. Didn't mean to start a firestorm . My basic problem with feathered
>Oviraptorids or Dromaeosaurids has to do with size in both animals . I
>understand that Oviraptorids and Dromaeosaurids are considered ' small '
>theropods , but are they not both larger than
>the feathered theropods from China ? In other words , what is the upper
>size limit in which insulation (discounting display purposes)
>becomes unnecessary in an endothermic dinosaur living in a fairly equable
>environment ?

   Now there's a fun question.  Not gonna touch it.  No I'm not.  I believe,
though, it's been debated here before and you might want to search the
archives in the "Serious Fun" section at http://www.cmnh.org

   But I just want to point out that _Velociraptor_ is roughly wolf sized,
and don't forget wolves have a full coat of insulation, even in "equable"
environments.  Just an example.

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