Re: epidermal structures (turtle scutes)

["Ken Kinman" <kinman@hotmail.com>]

Scott,
    The question that pops into my mind is whether these Carnotaurus 
conical structures are scales or scutes.
    And an even more important question is whether scutes evolved a few 
times and transformed into different subtypes, or if they arose many more 
times.  And I am particularly interested in whether turtle scutes are 
closely related to the scutes of crurotarsans (crocs and allies) and other 
early "thecodonts" (primitive archosauromorphs).
    I wonder if it is possible to compare fossilized dinosaur scutes with 
those of crocs and turtles and come up with any meaningful conclusions.  
That's something I plan to delve into more deeply.
           ----------Ken
******************************************

> From: "Scott Hartman" <scott_hartman@hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: scott_hartman@hotmail.com
> To: TomHopp@aol.com, brushes2@juno.com, dinosaur@usc.edu
> Subject: Re: epidermal structures
> Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 04:56:58
>
> As long as we're speculating...
>
>     I was glancing over some papers on the Carnotaurus skin impressions,
> and they all mention that their are large conical scales arranged into
> uneven longitudinal rows.  Which got me thinking...feather tracts are
> arranged into uneven longitudinal rows.  Kinda makes you wonder.  This
> speculation would become even more interesting if someone could demonstrate
> that those scales developed within a folicule.
>
> Anyway, back to real science, with actual facts involved.
>
> Scott
>
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