An international team of paleontologists has discovered remarkable new evidence that pterosaurs, the flying relatives of dinosaurs, were able to control the color of their feathers using melanin pigments.
Paleontology & Fossils
Apr 20, 2022
2
423
Inspired by the way iridescent bird feathers play with light, scientists have created thin films of material in a wide range of pure colors—from red to green—with hues determined by physical structure rather than pigments.
Nanomaterials
May 13, 2015
0
712
New research that revises the rules allowing scientists to decipher color in dinosaurs may also provide a tool for understanding the evolutionary emergence of flight and changes in dinosaur physiology prior to its origin.
Archaeology
Feb 12, 2014
1
1
A team of American and Chinese researchers has revealed the color and detailed feather pattern of Microraptor, a pigeon-sized, four-winged dinosaur that lived about 130 million years ago. The non-avian dinosaur's fossilized ...
Archaeology
Mar 8, 2012
2
1
The iridescent shimmer that makes birds such as peacocks and hummingbirds so striking is rooted in a natural nanostructure so complex that people are only just beginning to replicate it technologically. The secret to how ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 21, 2021
0
119
Melanosomes are the organelles, or structures, inside our cells, that produce melanin, the molecule that gives our skin, hair and eyes their color. Melanosomes produce several different forms of melanin, including black/brown ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Nov 19, 2020
0
26
Hummingbirds are some of the most brightly-colored things in the entire world. Their feathers are iridescent— light bounces off them like a soap bubble, resulting in shimmering hues that shift as you look at them from different ...
Evolution
Jan 10, 2020
0
723
Scientists could be set to reveal the most accurate depictions of ancient vertebrates ever made after a world-first discovery at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland.
Archaeology
Aug 20, 2019
0
509
Examining fossilised pigments, scientists from the University of Bristol have uncovered new insights into blue colour tones in prehistoric birds.
Archaeology
Jun 25, 2019
2
3
Iridescence is responsible for some of the most striking visual displays in the animal kingdom. Now, thanks to a new study of feathers from almost 100 modern bird species, scientists have gained new insights into how this ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 10, 2018
0
114
