A fossil skeleton of a dinosaur called Sinosauropteryx, preserved in volcanic ash, was discovered in Liaoning, China, in 1996. Interestingly, the fossil included a pattern of fine lines surrounding the skeletal bones. Some paleontologists interpret the lines as evidence that Sinosauropteryx had feathers. However, critics have opposed the idea that Sinosauropteryx was a feathered dinosaur, citing several reasons.
First, the critics points out that the fine lines may not even represent functional structures of a living dinosaur, but rather structures that were formed after the animal’s death. After the animal died and was buried in volcanic ash, its skin may have decomposed into fibers. The skin fibers then became preserved as lines in the fossil; the lines were misinterpreted as evidence of feathers.
Second, even if the fine lines are remains of real structures of a Sinosauropteryx, scientists cannot tell with certainty what part of the dinosaur’s anatomy the structures were. Many dinosaurs had frills, ornamental fan-shaped structures growing out of some parts of their bodies. Some of the critics argue that the lines surrounding the skeleton are much more likely to be fossilized remains of frills than remains of feathers.
A third objection is based on the fact that the usual functions of feathers are to help animals fly or regulate their internal temperature. However, the structures represented by the lines in the Sinosauropteryx fossil were mostly located along the backbone and the tail of the animal. This would have made the structures quite useless for flight and of very limited use in thermoregulation. This suggests that the lines do not represent feathers.
The article states that Sinosauropteryx was not a feathered dinosaur and provides three reasons of support. However, the professor explains that Sinosauropteryx was actually feathered and refutes each of the author's claims.
First, the reading claims that the fine lines do not represent functional structures of a living dinosaur. Instead, the structures were formed after the dinosaur's death. Moreover, the author points out that the skin decomposition could have caused the fibers. The professor refutes this point by saying that unlikely lines decomposition these lines could have been well-preserved. He states that this well preserved structure were lines not fiber.
Second, the article posits that even though lines are the remains of the dinosaur, there is not evidence about what part of the animal's anatomy this structure belongs. Furthermore, it is more probable that the structures were fossilized remains of frills, but feathers. However, the professor explains that there is a chemical difference between remains of frill and feathers. According to the professor, frills do not contain beta-carotene. Nevertheless, the feathers are composed of beta carotene and these lines had this component as part of the structure in dinosaurs, so they are more likely to be feathers rather than frills.
Third, the reading says that the feathers on the dinosaur did not have any function as regulation of temperature or flying, so they were useless to fly and of very limited use in thermoregulation. The professor opposes to this point by explaining that some animal use feather to another function. He mentions that the peak cot uses his colorful feathers to attract mates. Moreover, a research has found that Sinosauropteryx had red and white feathers, so they could have been used as display for attracting mates.
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Attribute Value Ideal
Score: 24 in 30
Category: Good Excellent
No. of Grammatical Errors: 2 2
No. of Spelling Errors: 0 2
No. of Sentences: 16 12
No. of Words: 286 250
No. of Characters: 1503 1200
No. of Different Words: 148 150
Fourth Root of Number of Words: 4.112 4.2
Average Word Length: 5.255 4.6
Word Length SD: 2.87 2.4
No. of Words greater than 5 chars: 112 80
No. of Words greater than 6 chars: 91 60
No. of Words greater than 7 chars: 66 40
No. of Words greater than 8 chars: 36 20
Use of Passive Voice (%): 0 0
Avg. Sentence Length: 17.875 21.0
Sentence Length SD: 7.313 7.5
Use of Discourse Markers (%): 0.625 0.12
Sentence-Text Coherence: 0.341 0.35
Sentence-Para Coherence: 0.551 0.50
Sentence-Sentence Coherence: 0.134 0.07
Number of Paragraphs: 4 4