The Evolution of Feathers from Dinosaur Hair.

The significance of finding feathered theropod dinosaurs is discussed in terms of the theories of the evolution of feathers, birds and endothermism. The plumulous proximal portion of the isolated Archaeopteryx feather suggests that endothermism had already evolved in the dinosaur - bird lineage by the Late Jurassic. It is suggested that adipose tissue would have played a major role in providing in…