TPO 31

The reading states that the pattern of fine lines, surrounding the skeleton bones of a dinosaur fossil found in China is not about the feather and provides three reasons of support. However, the professor refutes this point by explaining that, the evidences to show that those dinosaurs had feather are strong and the critics are unconvincing.

First, the article claims that those fine lines may be formed after the death on an animal, and are the skin's fibers of it. The professor refutes this point by saying that their skin has not decomposed into the fiber, because there are no evidence of decomposition of other fossils of different animals in the same site. Therefore, those lines preserve the functional feathers, not fibers.

Second, the reading posits that fine lines may demonstrate frills, the ornamental fan-shaped structure, and not the feather. However, the professor says that there is difference between the chemical matters of feather and frill. According to the professor, feathers have a chemical material which is one kind of protein, that the frill do not has it. She says that by investigating of fossils, they contained that type of protein, which proves that those dinosaurs had feathers.

Third, the article says that the usual functions of the feather is help animals fly or regulate their temperature, but the lines in the fossil were located along the backbone and the tail, that makes the structure useless. The professor opposites this point by claiming that, there are other functions besides the two mentioned by the reading. We also learn that one type of birds has long feathers near their tail which is used to attract the mates. This approach is named display function. Also, the lines had colors such as orange and white, which is the support for display function of the dinosaur's feather.