Re: Ornithomimus had feathers and "display" winglike forelimbs

[Scott Hartman <skeletaldrawing@gmail.com>]

This is very exciting!

In other news, Martin & Feduccia submitted a paper demonstrating that
ornithomimids are birds but not dinosaurs... ;-)

-Scott

On Thu, Oct 25, 2012 at 1:13 PM, Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com> wrote:
> From: Ben Creisler
> bcreisler@gmail.com
>
> New in Science:
>
> Darla K. Zelenitsky, François Therrien, Gregory M. Erickson,
> Christopher L. DeBuhr, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, David A. Eberth, and
> Frank Hadfield (2012)
> Feathered Non-Avian Dinosaurs from North America Provide Insight into
> Wing Origins.
> Science 338(6106): 510-514
> DOI: 10.1126/science.1225376
> http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6106/510.abstract
>
>
> Previously described feathered dinosaurs reveal a fascinating record
> of feather evolution, although substantial phylogenetic gaps remain.
> Here we report the occurrence of feathers in ornithomimosaurs, a clade
> of non-maniraptoran theropods for which fossilized feathers were
> previously unknown. The Ornithomimus specimens, recovered from Upper
> Cretaceous deposits of Alberta, Canada, provide new insights into
> dinosaur plumage and the origin of the avian wing. Individuals from
> different growth stages reveal the presence of a filamentous feather
> covering throughout life and winglike structures on the forelimbs of
> adults. The appearance of winglike structures in older animals
> indicates that they may have evolved in association with reproductive
> behaviors. These specimens show that primordial wings originated
> earlier than previously thought, among non-maniraptoran theropods.



-- 
Scott Hartman
Scientific Advisor/Technical Illustrator
(307) 921-9750
(608) 620-4030
website: www.skeletaldrawing.com
blog: http://skeletaldrawing.blogspot.com/