Archaeopteryx body feathers? (was Coelurosaur skin/ Jurassic Park)

["Ralph Miller III" <gbabcock@best.com>]

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. <th81@umail.umd.edu> writes:
> The preservation of skin structures is less-well preserved than normally
> considered: for example, we don't have good evidence for the skin of any
> _Compsognathus_ specimen, the body covering of _Archaeopteryx_ (wing &
tail
> feathers are fine, body covering not preserved), etc.  --SNIP--

Is this so?  There would appear to be some disagreement here.  On page 123
of Gregory S. Paul's _Predatory Dinosaurs of the World_, he states:

"Only one of the six _Archaeopteryx_ specimens show the soft body contour
feathers we are looking for in other dinosaurs, and _Compsognathus_ may
have had even softer, less preservable feathers."  ;^)  

Of course, there are now 7 specimens, I believe, but the point is this
mention of contour feathers on the one specimen.

Fastovsky and Weishampel's _The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs_
(pp. 310-311) states:

"...Archeopteryx_ has feathers that are beautifully differentiated into
down and symmetrical and asymmetrical feathers; the morphology and
distribution of the feathers is essentially modern."

I recently looked over Psihoyos' and Knoebber's _Hunting Dinosaurs_ and was
startled by a German dealer's 1877 tracing of the Berlin _Archaeopteryx_
(from the article about Professor John H. Ostrom's work) on page 114.  It
portrays the Berlin fossil with many "hairy" lines all about the
articulated skeleton, notably on the legs, back, breast, and neck. 
Flipping to page 127, I see the photograph of the fossil itself, and these
lines appear as what may be vague impressions of fibers.  The general
appearance of these lines on the cast I own also is consistent with such an
interpretation.  Are these lines the traces of a pelage, or are the body
feathers inferred on the basis of another of the specimens?

Regardless, I must agree with the general sentiments of Thomas R. Holtz,
Jr. that the preservation of traces of downy feathers is a most unexpected
occurrence, and that the absence of feather impressions on dromaeosaurid
remains, or even on the one Solnhofen specimen of _Compsognathus longipes_
does not mean that there were no feathers or protofeathers on the living
animals.  Amazing as it is, the Solnhofen has not provided us with
preserved fibers such as we see in the astonishing fossil birds and
theropods at Sihetun in China, and a good many fossil birds, pterosaurs,
and mammals found at other sites around the world have been considerably
less informative in this regard.  In most cases, we can only hypothesize
the precise appearance of extinct animals, content with the knowledge that
some guesses will turn out to have been better than others.  But these new
finds compel us to open our eyes to the possibilities... 

-- Ralph Miller III     gbabcock@best.com      

Optical illusion for your amusement:
Turn the aforementioned photo of _Archaeopteryx_ upside down, and it will
appear to be inside out (as in a counterslab).