How do birds get their colors?
A new article in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology explores the role of melanins in creating complex plumage patterns in 9,000 species.
A new article in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology explores the role of melanins in creating complex plumage patterns in 9,000 species.
Plants & Animals
Aug 5, 2017
0
141
Feathered dinosaurs that walked on two legs and had parrot-like beaks shared another characteristic with modern birds—they brooded clutches of eggs at a temperature similar to chickens, a study showed Wednesday.
Archaeology
Jun 28, 2017
1
118
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with Monash University and Australian National University has found that male superb fairy wrens are aware that their seasonal bright plumage attracts predators and take extra precautions ...
Tyrannosaurus rex had scales, not feathers, said a study Wednesday which rescues the giant lizard's reputation as a fearsome killer with a rough-and-tough hide.
Archaeology
Jun 7, 2017
7
440
The identification of essential chemical elements in the feathers of long-distance migratory seabirds using advanced X-ray imaging techniques promises new insights into the underlying physiological processes behind feather ...
Analytical Chemistry
May 18, 2017
0
11
(Phys.org)—A team of researchers at the Technical University of Denmark has developed a way to print colors onto a surface without using ink and which will not fade. In their paper published in the open-access journal Sciences ...
A 40,000 year old piece of raven bone that was etched with near-even lines suggests Neanderthals had an eye for esthetics, French researchers said Wednesday.
Archaeology
Mar 30, 2017
8
223
A chicken-sized, feathered dinosaur that scuttled around Earth 160 million years ago is helping flesh out the missing link between land-bound animals and flying ones, scientists said Tuesday.
Archaeology
Feb 28, 2017
0
95
Researchers have discovered a dinosaur tail complete with its feathers trapped in a piece of amber. The finding reported in Current Biology on December 8 helps to fill in details of the dinosaurs' feather structure and evolution, ...
Archaeology
Dec 8, 2016
1
942
Why do some animals have extravagant, showy ornaments—think elk and deer antlers, peacock feathers and horns on dung beetles—that can be a liability to survival? Charles Darwin couldn't figure it out, but now a Northwestern ...
Evolution
Nov 30, 2016
3
1039