Re: [dinosaur] Fuzzy Allosaurus?

[Mickey Mortimer <mickey_mortimer111@msn.com>]

Note we also have scale impressions from Allosaurus itself (Pinegar et al., 2003).  They state "The left side of the body preserves a 30 cm2 skin impression consisting of small scales 2-3 mm in diameter."  But Kulindadromeus and Juravenator show scales and filaments can be present in different areas of the same animal, so that doesn't mean Allosaurus lacked fuzz.  

Reference- Pinegar, Loewen, Cloward, Hunter and Weege, 2003. A juvenile allosaur with preserved integument from the basal Morrison Formation of Central Wyoming. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23(3), 87A-88A.

Mickey Mortimer

The Theropod Database- http://theropoddatabase.com/

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From: dinosaur-l-request@usc.edu <dinosaur-l-request@usc.edu> on behalf of Thomas Richard Holtz <tholtz@umd.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2017 6:05 PM
To: Gray Stamper
Cc: dinosaur-l@usc.edu
Subject: Re: [dinosaur] Fuzzy Allosaurus?

 

Current answer is "we don't know".

It is justifiable in that the closest relatives to the allosauroids--the coelurosaurs--are known to be fuzzy. The allosauroid Concavenator is known to have scales in some parts of its body, and structures on the forearms which (not without controversy) are interpreted as quill nodes for longish feathers. And it is possible that the little fuzzy theropods Juravenator and Sciurumimus are more distantly related, in which case fuzz in theropods goes even lower. And there is the possibility that fuzz--or at least the potential to make fuzz--was present in the common ancestor of all dinosaurs.

But we have no direct evidence of fuzz in Allosaurus and the distribution is currently less certain than we would like.

So you would be justifiable in a fuzzy Allo, or in a scaly one. And as for the exact distribution on the body? Even less certain.

Hope this helps,

On Mon, Jan 30, 2017 at 8:42 PM, Gray Stamper <zelkwin@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello!!

I'm working on a children's book featuring an Allosaurus, and I'm trying to be as accurate as I can. Do we have any idea what Allosaurus integument would have looked like? Would they have been fuzzy or had bristles near their mouths? 

Any help you can offer, even something like "nope, never heard of anything", is helpful! Thank you! Have a good day!

Gray Stamper

--

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