New Study Suggests Missing Link That Explains How Dinosaurs Learned To Fly

National Science Foundation Press Release ^ | January 16, 2003 | Kenneth Dial

[txhurl]

She refuses to talk about it. This pic was in my baby photo album. What, was I originally going to be an opossum or something?

[AndrewC]

I wish someone could tell me why I had a tail as long as my body when I was -.5 years old. Plus I have this tailbone. But I don't have a tail. Yet. Is it just me? Whazzup?

I suppose it would be for the same reason your brain and spinal cord are the largest and most compact tissue at that time.

Concerning your tailbone, try and have it removed if you don't like it and tell us what the results are. Or if you desire a tail, superglue might function well.

[txhurl]

I should probably confess that in an earlier photo I had gills, for pete's sake.

I looked like a freakin' salamander, some sort of reptile. But no wings, thankfully.

[AndrewC]

I should probably confess that in an earlier photo I had gills, for pete's sake.

I sincerely doubt that. You may have had folds, but gills no. You don't yet have a functioning circulatory system.

[Ciexyz]

Hmmm....

[txhurl]

OK, I was trolling.

However, bats fly without feathers. Wouldn't the small, warm-blooded reptile --> flying rodent --> feather-bearing bird track be simpler?

But from an evolutionary perspective, the development of wings was to get off the ground, quickly. Pterodactyl achieved this, without feathers, AFAIK. Perhaps feathers were evolved simply as a warming/waterproofing mechanism as the flock ventured into colder territory.