#pycnofibres

[ask-palaeoblr]

Did all pterosaurs have pycnofibres?

[lobo-on-my-podia]

Fossils tell a colourful tale

Fossils tell a colourful tale

Fluffy pterosaurs offer vibrant insight into Mesozoic evolution.

"... the bodies of at least some pterosaurs were clothed with a kind of fuzz has been known (or at least suspected) since the 1830s..."

"Pterosaur fluff, comprised of what are technically known as ‘pycnofibres’, is structurally different from mammalian fur or hair."

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Are there any proven structural differences between Pyctofibers and Proto-feathers, or are they identical with different names?

No proven differences; they are monofilamentous structures and beyond that we don’t know. Probably the same thing though. 

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Yeah, on wikipedia's feathered dinosaurs page, it says "the pycnofibers on pterosaurs and integument on various ornithiscians may not be homologous to feathers." Any thoughts?

Means they might not be. It’s not completely out of the question, it’s just significantly more parsimonious that they are, given the rapid divergence time of the three clades from one another, and the similarity of the structures. 

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Don't pterosaurs have "hair"? I would think if all archosaurs had basal feathers they would have ran with that instead of developing their own coating...

Pterosaur “Hair” = Pycnofibres

Protofeathers (early feathers, basal feathers, what have you) = Similar to Hair

Protofeathers are nearly identical to Pycnofibres

Ergo, there is a SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF EVIDENCE that

PTEROSAUR PYCNOFIBRES AND DINOSAURIAN PROTOFEATHERS ARE THE SAME DAMN THING (homologous)

Do your research, anon.