Nature Science

FEATHERS: 100 MILLION YEARS OF BEAUTY NOW

by Veronica K. Ko. Feather on a Russian lake.

Today, we look at feathers, from when they began to appear on earth about 100 million years ago, protruding from the skins of dinosaurs, to the beautiful variety of lush colors and shapes we find on birds today.

In the past few years, scientists have discovered dinosaur feathers trapped in nuggets of ancient amber. They are the beginnings of what would evolve into bird feathers. They began as hollow wiry hairlike growths, then began to fray and split, to develop the fringe and fluffy structures we see on modern birds. The amber even preserved some of the colors: white, red, grey and brown.

Macaroni Penguins, which live in and near Antarctica, have distinctive yellow tufted feather crests. Scientists have been trying to figure out where the yellow color comes from, since it can’t be traced directly to the penguin’s diet.

Raman spectroscopy has given us some new insight into the chemistry of the yellow penguin pigment. Raman spectroscopy describes interactions between atoms in molecules or minerals. The Raman spectrum from the penguin feather pigment is brand new. This yellow feather pigment is unlike any other.

This means that penguins, through evolution, have developed a biochemical pathway for making the pigment themselves, as parrots have.

Ten species of living penguin make the yellow pigment, including king penguins, yellow-eyed penguins and macaroni penguins. They are all the descendants of a common ancestor that lived over 13 million years ago.

For more information about the yellow feather pigment evolution check out the paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society.

After dinosaurs, then ancient penguins ancestors, we now take closer look at the beauty of feathers happening right now. Here are some beautiful images, from a selection of photographers we admire, to share with you.