Earliest feathers were for show, not flight

by SamCogar Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:25 am

The world's first feathers probably had nothing to do with flight or staying warm but were instead for showy display purposes, according to a new study that documents the most primitive known version of feathers, which were found on a Chinese dinosaur.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28626897/

by bmd Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:50 pm

There has been some debate, for decades, as to whether early feathers were for thermoregulation, sexual selection, or a combination of the two. This article, like most popular press on science, is either ignorant, or just ignores, the scientific literature on the subject.

by SamCogar Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:08 am

bmd wrote:There has been some debate, for decades, as to whether early feathers were for thermoregulation, sexual selection, or a combination of the two. This article, like most popular press on (the) science (of flight), is either ignorant, or just ignores, the scientific literature on the subject.

bmd,

I agree with the conclusion reached as stated in the article.

And my opinion on most all of the literature on the subject is expressed by what I boldfaced in red in your above.

Why I have never read so many cockymania ideas proposed for anything other than Creationism ......as there has been on the evolution of flight by the ancestors of present day birds. Just like their "thinking" that Pterosaurs could fly. To wit:

Earliest feathers were for show, not flight Petras10

Earliest feathers were for show, not flight Petras10

This undated handout illustration provided by The Johns Hopkins University shows the massive 30-foot wingspan of the toothless pteranodon, left, was surpassed by that of Hatzegopteryx, right, at 40 feet or more. Pterosaurs, sometimes weighed more than 500 pounds, and yet they soared above the other dinosaurs. Experts couldn't figure out how because no bird can get that big could get off the ground. A new study has figured out how they did it: By leaping into the air from all fours - unlike any other flyers in history (except the vampire bats).

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/01/07/2285768-how-big-jurassic-flying-reptiles-got-off-ground

Jump, baby, jump ..... and be flapping those 20+ feet wings when ya do it. lol!

Now just try to picture that Hatzegopteryx ..... trying to get off the ground. Razz

Its 1st upward "flap" would drive it belly back into the ground, .... or if downward would "break a leg".

bmd, the only logical reasoning is that those "winged" lizards were "water feeders", ..... not flyers. With a feeding habit just like the ...... Black Heron.

And if you want to discuss "origin of bird flight", I will offer my logical opinions.

cheers

.

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Earliest feathers were for show, not flight

Earliest feathers were for show, not flight

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