If you are a male barn swallow in the United States or the Mediterranean with dark red breast feathers, you're apt to wow potential mates. But if you have long outer tail feathers in the United States, or short ones in the ...
Evolution
Aug 15, 2016
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17
The potential evolutionary link between hairs in mammals, feathers in birds and scales in reptiles has been debated for decades. Today, researchers of the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 24, 2016
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1003
Call it a shimmy meant to hypnotize. When courting a female, peacocks fan their colorful rear feathers and shake them, but somehow keep their plumes' iridescent circles, or eyespots, nearly still, like a fixed stare.
Plants & Animals
Apr 27, 2016
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200
Broadbills - birds found in some parts of Africa - produce a startlingly loud sound that they make with their wings to mark off territory. Males fly abruptly in a tight circle, landing where they began, and produce a klaxon-like ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 5, 2016
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10
University of Utah scientists identified two genes that make some pigeon breeds develop feathered feet known as muffs, while others have scaled feet. The same or similar genes might explain scaled feet in chickens and other ...
Biotechnology
Mar 15, 2016
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261
Humboldt penguins live in places that dip below freezing in the winter, and despite getting wet, their feathers stay sleek and free of ice. Scientists have now figured out what could make that possible. They report in ACS' ...
Materials Science
Feb 24, 2016
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29
Birds use sophisticated changes to the structure of their feathers to create multi-coloured plumage, using a process that could pave the way for the creation of paints and clothing colours that won't fade over time.
Materials Science
Dec 21, 2015
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994
A research team led by a University of Kansas alumnus has identified a new giant raptor, the largest specimen ever found with wing feathers.
Archaeology
Nov 4, 2015
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398
An undergraduate University of Alberta paleontology student has discovered an Ornithomimus dinosaur with preserved tail feathers and soft tissue. The discovery is shedding light on the convergent evolution of these dinosaurs ...
Archaeology
Oct 28, 2015
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(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers, Cassondra Williams, of the University of California, Julie Hagelin, of the University of Alaska and Gerald Kooyman with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, has found that contrary to ...
