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Methinks BP is making a common assumption here in regards to feathered dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were not true reptiles. There is strong evidence they were warm blooded or sem-warm blooded. Reptiles are cold blooded. The flying reptiles BP refers to were the pterosaurs. However, they may not have been true reptiles either, as there is strong evidence they were fur covered, which indicates they also required insulation. The feathered dinosaurs gave rise to modern birds (feathers originated for insulation purposes, not flying; they were simply adapted for the latter). The truly-flying reptiles (to distinguish them from gliding reptiles, which can be found even today) went extinct, possibly out-competed by the early birds.

Dinosaurs were not true reptiles.

Some of them--many of the theropods--were experimenting with warm-bloodedness so that they could hunt at night and pursue (rather than just stalk) prey. You can't draw a sharp line and say "These are true reptiles and these aren't." For some scientists, the answer is to move the clade Aves, formerly a class of its own, under Reptilia. That is, birds are thus considered warm-blooded reptiles. Here's a tree putting them under the coelurosaurs.

BP, this kind of readjustment happens because the Linnaean system of categories was originally developed 250 years ago based one man's view of the then-known forms which life had taken. There is no reason to think that every "bin" he created then would be bordered with an uncrossable, inviolable barrier or that his bins themselves were magically "correct." The bin assignments, and the number and nature of the bins, are arbitrary. That said, however, the very nature of the enterprise will tend to make the classifications correspond to the branchings of a real historical tree of life as understood by evolution and ignored or misunderstood by people who think the bins are "created kinds."

As you go back in time (or down in the sediments) the bin boundaries "blur" as forms start getting harder to tell from the forms in other bins. Looking back in time reverses divergence.

There is strong evidence they were warm blooded or sem-warm blooded. Reptiles are cold blooded.

Dinos did not have turbinates, and therefore, were cold blooded.

Does this prove that dinos were warm-blooded? Unfortunately, no. It does suggest that they were more advanced than modern lizards in that they could keep the temperature constant throughout their entire body

Both sides, take your pick.

Methinks BP is making a common assumption here in regards to feathered dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were not true reptiles. There is strong evidence they were warm blooded or sem-warm blooded. Reptiles are cold blooded. The flying reptiles BP refers to were the pterosaurs. However, they may not have been true reptiles either, as there is strong evidence they were fur covered, which indicates they also required insulation. The feathered dinosaurs gave rise to modern birds (feathers originated for insulation purposes, not flying; they were simply adapted for the latter). The truly-flying reptiles (to distinguish them from gliding reptiles, which can be found even today) went extinct, possibly out-competed by the early birds.

Junior,

I can't really ask how many feathered dinosaurs are still around can I, seeing as there are none, except of course Nessie.

Well maybe I can ask, but the answer either way is zero. Why is that? Shouldn't there have been some other use for feathers other than for flying? Or did our little therapods just start jumping out trees till they started growing feathers. At which point they started flying instead of hitting the ground. Still they needed to work out that landing thing sooner or later. Kinda reminds you of that show "Greatest American Hero" where Ralph Hinkley keeps crash landing. Now that was a hoot.

Regards,
Boiler Plate

P.S. be careful with that "methinks" stuff you might hurt yourself, or even worse turn into a European.

The first therapod taking flight was record in this pre-historic (well at least pre-linux) celluloid fossil recently, that was discovered in the Hollywood Bowl.