5 replies to this topic

[Scylla]

This one's for Auspex...

http://www.nature.co...s.2010.455.html

[Auspex]

Interesting; I wish there were images of the papillae.
They should only exist to anchor an integumentary structure (bristles, feathers), and the only reason to have such anchored is to provide for control of them, either passive (to keep them in place) or active (for movement by musculature). Any way you look at it, it is a clue to behavior

[Scylla]

Auspex, on 08 September 2010 - 04:33 PM, said:

Interesting; I wish there were images of the papilllae.
They should only exist to anchor an integumentary structure (bristles, feathers), and the only reason to have such anchored is to provide for control of them, either passive (to keep them in place) or active (for movement by musculature). Any way you look at it, it is a clue to behavior

http://www.nature.co...nature09181.pdf

look at fig 4.

Edited by Scylla, 08 September 2010 - 04:43 PM.

[Auspex]

Thanks!
I would like to note that the modern example provided there (a vulture) might not have been the best choice, since it shows two rows of papillae; the vast majority of birds have one row, like the fossil. Also, the papillae on the fossil ulna are not on the correct side of the bone to have had anything to do with flight (not than anyone is likely to think of big honking dinosaurs flying, but the example is being made to feathers).

[MOROPUS]

Las Hoyas is a very famous dino site, that is providing a rare glimpse of the early cretaceous:
My link is only in Spanish,sorry!

[Ordovician_Odyssey]

wow i alwase love it when a new dinosaur is discovered its like trying to find all the peices for "the" puzzle.
-shamus