The outermost layer of skin, the epidermis, produces a variety of growths in animal and bird species. Because dinosaurs were reptiles, and modern reptiles have scales and armor plates on their skin, it was long assumed that dinosaurs had the same type of skin coverings. However, dinosaurs had many traits that modern reptiles lack, and evidence gathered by paleontologists indicates that dinosaurs may have, in fact, possessed feathers like modern birds.
Descendants
One reason for believing that dinosaurs possessed feathers is that they are a defining trait of their descendants: modern birds. All modern birds have feathers that cover their bodies to some degree, and this is true of all birds in the fossil record as well. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that they inherited this trait from their ancestors.
Fossil Feathers
There is physical evidence that some dinosaurs did certainly have feathers. Feathers are clearly visible on fossils ranging from the duck-sized Mei Long to the largest known feathered dinosaur, the Yutyrannus huali, a Tyrannosaurus cousin that weighed more than 3,000 pounds.The feathered fossils belong to species that are unrelated and include both predator and prey animals. This strongly suggests that feathers were common to all dinosaurs.
Need for Feathers
While feathers are most commonly associated with flight, they almost certainly evolved first as a way of regulating temperature. Many of the feathers that have left fossil imprints look more like the downy fluff of a modern chick or hatchling than the stiff plumes of adult birds. Such filament-like feathers would likely have been helpful in trapping body heat. Warm-blooded modern birds use feathers to insulate themselves in colder climates and it is reasonable to assume that dinosaurs would have put feathers to the same use.
The reading passage contends that dinosaurs must have possessed feathers like modern birds, and provides several evidences that seem to uphold its claim. However, the lecture points out that not all proof indicate as mentioned in the reading passage and provides several advocating reasons. The evidences mentioned in the lecture will be elaborated in more detail below.
First of all, the lecture refutes the point made in the reading passage, which asserts that dinosaurs possessed feathers that are a defining trait of their descendants, by mentioning that modern birds have been evolved from specfic types of groups of dinosaurs. Also, evidences show that not all descendants possess feathers like the modern birds, which have been inherited from Therapods. This proves that not all dinosaurs had feathers.
Second, while the reading passage contends that there exists physical evidence that indicates that some dinosaurs definitely had feathers, the lecture disapproves this point by commenting that many fossils that contain skin impressions are not feathers. Actually, multiple skin samples indicate that the dinosaurs had different types of skins other than having feathers, such as being bumpy or either having scales or plates.
Last but not least, the reading passage claims that the dinosaurs must have had feathers in a way of regulating temperature. While the lecture agrees that this may be true, it also mentions that this is not applicable to larger dinosaurs who are referred to as gigantothermy. Because of their immense size, their internal temperature changes in a very slow rate, eliminating the need for feathers to regulate their body temperature and provides an example of sea turtles as proof. Moreover, for those who rely on Sun for heat, feathers would have actually blocked the sunlight, making it extremely unhelpful in regulating temperature.
Transition Words or Phrases used:
actually, also, but, first, however, if, may, moreover, second, so, while, such as, first of all
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 9.0 10.4613686534 86% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 6.0 5.04856512141 119% => OK
Conjunction : 6.0 7.30242825607 82% => OK
Relative clauses : 21.0 12.0772626932 174% => OK
Pronoun: 29.0 22.412803532 129% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 28.0 30.3222958057 92% => OK
Nominalization: 1.0 5.01324503311 20% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1585.0 1373.03311258 115% => OK
No of words: 292.0 270.72406181 108% => OK
Chars per words: 5.42808219178 5.08290768461 107% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.13376432452 4.04702891845 102% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.64089507493 2.5805825403 102% => OK
Unique words: 159.0 145.348785872 109% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.544520547945 0.540411800872 101% => OK
syllable_count: 486.9 419.366225166 116% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.7 1.55342163355 109% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 3.0 3.25607064018 92% => OK
Article: 6.0 8.23620309051 73% => OK
Subordination: 3.0 1.25165562914 240% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 1.0 1.51434878587 66% => OK
Preposition: 2.0 2.5761589404 78% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 12.0 13.0662251656 92% => OK
Sentence length: 24.0 21.2450331126 113% => OK
Sentence length SD: 59.7640615718 49.2860985944 121% => OK
Chars per sentence: 132.083333333 110.228320801 120% => OK
Words per sentence: 24.3333333333 21.698381199 112% => OK
Discourse Markers: 8.0 7.06452816374 113% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 0.0 4.19205298013 0% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 4.0 4.33554083885 92% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 1.0 4.45695364238 22% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.27373068433 164% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.197442537781 0.272083759551 73% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0785028368451 0.0996497079465 79% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0700288755822 0.0662205650399 106% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.124499881317 0.162205337803 77% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0683600879032 0.0443174109184 154% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 16.3 13.3589403974 122% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 38.66 53.8541721854 72% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 5.55761589404 158% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 13.8 11.0289183223 125% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 14.51 12.2367328918 119% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.99 8.42419426049 107% => OK
difficult_words: 77.0 63.6247240618 121% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 14.0 10.7273730684 131% => OK
gunning_fog: 11.6 10.498013245 110% => OK
text_standard: 14.0 11.2008830022 125% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 80.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 24.0 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.