Re: Feathers as fossilized behaviour

[Pharris Nicholas J <pharrinj@plu.edu>]

On Fri, 19 Feb 1999, Dann Pigdon wrote:

> This begs the question: if they weren't
> using them for flight, what could non-avian theropods have been
> doing with them? I suspect they were useful for something, other
> than just being an evolutionary hang-on. Would brooding or display
> alone have accounted for their continued presence?

By this I assume you mean the big, long, flat feathers seen on the arms
and tail of _Protarchaeopteryx_ and _Caudipteryx_?  Of course, the other,
downy or hairy, types would always be useful for insulation.  As to the
larger ones, my best guess would be that they were display structures.

Nick Pharris
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
(253)535-7045