来自早白垩世鸟类中空黑素体的绚丽彩虹色羽毛颜色的确凿证据。

Unambiguous evidence of brilliant iridescent feather color from hollow melanosomes in an Early Cretaceous bird.

作者信息

Pan Yanhong, Li Zhiheng, Wang Min, Zhao Tao, Wang Xiaoli, Zheng Xiaoting

机构信息

State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environment and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, China.

Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.

出版信息

Natl Sci Rev. 2021 Dec 28;9(2):nwab227. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwab227. eCollection 2022 Feb.

DOI:10.1093/nsr/nwab227

PMID:35145706

原文链接:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8824705/

Abstract

A unique form of melanosomes contributing to brilliant iridescent colors in modern bird feathers, previously unknown in fossil birds, is identified in the Early Cretaceous bird Eoconfuciusornis. The discovery highlights the complexity of plumage color nanostructures utilized early in bird evolution as far back as 130 million years ago.

摘要

在早白垩世鸟类孔子鸟中发现了一种独特形式的黑素体，这种黑素体致使现代鸟类羽毛呈现出绚丽的虹彩颜色，而在化石鸟类中此前尚不为人知。这一发现凸显了早在1.3亿年前鸟类演化早期所利用的羽毛颜色纳米结构的复杂性。