Primitive feathers found in fossilized amber from Late Cretaceous

[AquaEyes]

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Perhaps the feathers weren't stiff, but more like emu feathers. I don't know -- I'm not familiar with those species. But Sultans with their vulture-hocks seem to get around ok.

 

[KristyHall]

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Perhaps the feathers weren't stiff, but more like emu feathers. I don't know -- I'm not familiar with those species. But Sultans with their vulture-hocks seem to get around ok.

aahh sultans, the dweebs of the bird world. i like those goofy little puff balls.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Perhaps the feathers weren't stiff, but more like emu feathers. I don't know -- I'm not familiar with those species. But Sultans with their vulture-hocks seem to get around ok.

aahh sultans, the dweebs of the bird world. i like those goofy little puff balls.

Hi, KristyHall!

 

[KristyHall]

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aahh sultans, the dweebs of the bird world. i like those goofy little puff balls.

Hi, KristyHall!

Hi AquaEyes!

 

[centrarchid]

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Perhaps the feathers weren't stiff, but more like emu feathers. I don't know -- I'm not familiar with those species. But Sultans with their vulture-hocks seem to get around ok.

The feathers on legs appear designed for flight like those on arms / wings so critter could glide like a bi-plane. Therefore they must have been stiff. The funcky chicken and pigeon breeds with feathers on legs I think would not do well in food race against non-leg-feathered individuals of same species.

 

[desertdarlene]

That's pretty cool! I also ran across another article that states that ancient birds were doing very well until the asteroid hit and that only a few species survived became the birds we know today.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
Perhaps the feathers weren't stiff, but more like emu feathers. I don't know -- I'm not familiar with those species. But Sultans with their vulture-hocks seem to get around ok.

The feathers on legs appear designed for flight like those on arms / wings so critter could glide like a bi-plane. Therefore they must have been stiff. The funcky chicken and pigeon breeds with feathers on legs I think would not do well in food race against non-leg-feathered individuals of same species.

Well, like I said, I'm not familiar with the species. Do we know for sure that they ran on the ground, as opposed to lived in trees? Is it possible it was a sexual dimorphism thing, like with peacocks (imagine finding a fossil peacock in full-train, without ever having seen one alive in real life...we'd probably wonder how they survived)? I don't know. I'd have to read more about them. But it's good to ask questions -- leads to possibly finding more answers.

I get all geeky with articles like this -- makes me feel like someone reached out into the distant past, grabbed a handful of stuff, and brought it into the present. And I especially like the "we think this is how it happened based on genes and structure, therefore we should eventually find these intermediate stages in the fossil record" part being confirmed.

Get your own fluffy dinosaurs

 

[Illia]

The dinosaur I first showed, Anchiornis, has stiff leg feathers, practically the same composition as its secondary feathers.


The theory is that it used them to glide, not fly. Think of it, if the animal ran up a branch, then jumped off, it would be able to spread out its legs to a certain degree, and glide with those feathers for a short while, acting as a second pair of wings. Anchiornis, also, was a VERY small dinosaur.

I'd imagine they lived more in the trees.

 

[AquaEyes]

The question I have is how they preened if they had teeth -- without shredding their feathers. I'm not doubting that it worked, since we have evidence of teeth and feathers co-existing on the same organism, but it just makes me wonder how they did it.

 

[KristyHall]

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very carefuly?