Certainly this is a possibility. But then someone needs to explain why my cat doesn't have feathers. In fact, I am aware of no small mammal which sports featers rather than fur.
As I stated above, I am not anti-evolution (ie. I am not a 'created by God in 7 days' person). But I believe evolution has been intelligently guided, either directly by God or indirectly by some sort of feedback mechanism whereby the built-in intelligence of Nature is able to assess data from the environment and design evolutionary changes accordingly. I do not believe in a Nature-as-God concept such as Gaia. I believe in the Holy Father of Jesus.
If the above is not perfectly clear it's because evolutionary science is primarily still in the theoretical stage. I don't have the answers to the vital questions, but I can recognize dissembling on the part of advocates of mechanistic evolution when I encounter it.
Bird down feathers have enough similarities to mammal hair to suggest they evolved to serve the same purposes.
Consider:
These facts suggest that mammal hair likely evolved many mullions of years before the earliest bird feathers.
But there is no reason I know of to expect any connection will be found between the earliest mammal hair and later bird down feathers.
ARepublicanForAllReasons: "I don't have the answers to the vital questions, but I can recognize dissembling on the part of advocates of mechanistic evolution when I encounter it."
I shudder to think whom you might have "encountered".
Did you not have a good science teacher in any grade in school?
Basic science consists of facts (=confirmed observations), hypotheses (unconfirmed explanations) and theories (confirmed explanations), plus an occasional scientific "law" which can be expressed mathematically.
Regarding evolution, there are facts, a confirmed theory and a number of unconfirmed hypotheses.
There are no mathematical "laws" of evolution, that I know of.
So, my point is: what, exactly is your problem with the scientific facts, theory and hypotheses relating to evolution?
Your cat doesn’t have feathers because it evolved from a different branch of evolution that developed fur. More than 2 dozen eye forms have evolved. It is hardly surprising that different forms of surface covering would also evolve.