[general_re]

The way I read this, it was previously thought that the rachis formed first, but that is now known to be incorrect. In fact, it seems that the barbs of feathers formed first and later fused to form a rachis.

[AndrewC]

The way I read this,

Yes, that is the way I read it. My point being that this would be touted as evidence for the Darwininian view no matter what the outcome.