Comments on: What colours were dinosaur feathers?

By: DDeden

DDeden — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:17:39 +0000

Rod forms are merely spheres with columns between the hemisphere shells, whether in bacteria, melanosomes or buckyballs vs end-capped nanotubes. Geometrically, it is a transition from pentameric icosahedral symmetrical hemi-spheroidal end caps to hexameric columns. The hexa-skin shape may produce a change in light transmission compared to the round shape.
It is said that powered flight in modern birds requires asymmetrical feathers, but I think that flight with symmetrical feathers was possible, using them in a different way, more as gravity-powered glide-flight arboreal raptor ambush style. Having long striped tails is convergently typical of arboreal stem-climbers which hop up branches (especially whorled conifer-like trees) rather than swinging and clinging. /geek

By: psweet

psweet — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:58:22 +0000

Thanks, Ed. I guess we’re closer than I thought.

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:39:17 +0000

Jimbonius – you’re right, I mixed up the shape descriptions. Now fixed.

By: RichardL

RichardL — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:44:26 +0000

So fossil experts here claim that bacteria can produce fossil shapes, but in meteorites from Mars experts claim that bacteria can’t produce fossil shapes?

By: Jimbonius

Jimbonius — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:47:40 +0000

Maybe it’s just me, but in both sets of electron microscope images above, it’s the eumelanosomes that appear more rod-like and the phaemelanosomes that look more spherical. No?

By: The Ridger

The Ridger — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:43:31 +0000

We won’t find blue either, I’m guessing, since that’s not a pigment at all. But this is so cool!

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:34:36 +0000

Love the enthusiastic responses!
Psweet – Benton says that, yes, there are some colour-producing pigments that won’t be represented in this way, including yellow-orange carotenoids or green-purple porphyrins. However, if you check out one of the links in the later paragraphs (under “Vinther reported”) you’ll see that your point about iridescence and structural colours has been addressed in a similar study.

By: Joshua Fan

Joshua Fan — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:31:31 +0000

Wow, you wouldn’t think we would find out the colour of dinosaurs until we successfully bred one. So many surprising things to be found with patience and a microscope.

By: kathy Orlinsky

kathy Orlinsky — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:15:44 +0000

Very exciting! Or should I say, ‘beautiful’?
These melanosomes were only found in the fossils of feathered dinosaurs, right? I wonder if researchers will be able to find them in skin traces of nonfeathered dinosaurs as well.

By: Obnoxio The Clown

Obnoxio The Clown — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:47:49 +0000

There’s cool, there’s way cool, and then there’s this! )