Talk:Pterodaustro

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Carotenoid coloration

This quote from the article contains some dubious information:

According to Robert Bakker, like with flamingos, this pterosaur's diet may have resulted in a pink hue. Thus, it is often dubbed the "flamingo pterosaur".[5] However, recent studies show that only Neoaves can absorb carotenoids, and even then they require to enhance it with structural colors, so a pink hue for any pterosaur seems extremely unlikely.[6]

First, the claim that only Neoaves can absorb carotenoids is false: for example, humans can also use dietary carotenoids as integumentary pigmentation. Canthaxanthin pills can be used as a sunless tanner: that's the same carotenoid that flamingos color their feathers with! So, if humans and flamingos can do it, surely it isn't too farfetched to think that pterosaurs could, as well; especially given that pterosaur pycnofibers could very well be homologous with avian feathres (and therefore share some of the same cellular and structural features). "Extremely unlikely" is certainly unwarranted.

Tennesseellum (talk) 03:45, 2 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This is far more complex when dealing with feathers. Pycnofibers are more akin to down than pennaceous feathers, and modern down feathers are never pink even in flamingos. All tetrapods can apparently use carotenoids to pigment skin, even non-neoavians (obvious example-red facial skin/combs/wattles of chickens). The specific biological pathway the source is talking about is for feathers, not the parts of the dermis that can use carotenoid pigments in all tetrapods. Note hat people who take sunless tanning pills don't have their *hair* turn orange. The source also discusses the fact that carotenoids in feathers are rather dull unless augmented by structural color, which is also not present in down and probably pycnofibres for the same reason-they lack the complex microstructure of more advanced feathers necessary for structural color. MMartyniuk (talk) 11:15, 2 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Would be an idea to change the colour of our life restoration then? And is it just me or is its neck too short? Or is it due to perspective or internal bending that can't be seen? FunkMonk (talk) 17:02, 21 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The neck does look way too short... if it's written off as perspective and/or soft tissue obscuring internal curvature, then the perspective would be really wonky. And yeah, I would change the color. I remember this being specifically addressed as not likely in some reliable recent source (maybe Witton's book?). Dinoguy2 (talk) 11:42, 22 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Here's an earlier revision of the image that would be easy to fix.[1] The new image may also be iffy if the background photo is copyrighted. So perhaps the neck should just be lengthened on the old version and uploaded on top? FunkMonk (talk) 16:00, 22 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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