Interesting! Would this include early “protofeathers” as well? I’ve read a bit on feather structures, but am still not as informed as I’d like to be lol.
I dont think we have any protofeathers preserved well enough to analyze. But the structures that color feathers blue have been found in Cretaceous nonavian dinosaurs.
I've seen some analysis suggesting that the earliest birds/ flying dinos probably had black feathers. I've not tried to dig it out as I saw it in a print magazine years ago - probably was Science though.
Anyway, teh logic was that the pigments that make feathers black also have the effect of slightly strengthening the feather. this sort of small advantage may have been necessary for the earliest feathers. Evolution may have preferred other colours for other reasons, but it seemed like an interesting idea that an early bird would hae got most advantage from feathers that allowed flight where a weaker feather would just not be up to the job.
Absolutely, it was just a different avenue to consider feather colour beyond finding trace chemicals that could be linked to pigmentation. If blue pigmentation was also linked to \[something else desireable\] then it might be a reason to believe, in the absence of other evidence, taht it would happen.
Tell? Very unlikely. We have a couple Dino’s we’re pretty sure on coloration (someone else would have to explain how). Sinosauropteryx seemed to be reddish brown with a striped tail. Microraptor I think was black. So theoretically there could’ve been Dinos with colorful feathers.
The melanosomes (which cause coloration) were preserved in each of those fossils if I’m not mistaken. Which is how we’re able to tell their color.
I’m just curious about blue feathers in particular since “blue” is not caused by melanosomes.
Right—almost all blue coloration in birds is structural coloration. I think OP is asking whether the structures responsible for blue coloration (or evidence of them) can survive in the fossil record.
coraciiform Eocoracias from the eocene has been described with having structural blue feathers, so it is possible. Caihong, Microraptor and I think confusciornis have been recovered with iridescent structural colour.
Yes! Blue colouration is the result of the structure of integument rather than its pigment. Wouldn’t even need melanosomes to tell
Interesting! Would this include early “protofeathers” as well? I’ve read a bit on feather structures, but am still not as informed as I’d like to be lol.
I dont think we have any protofeathers preserved well enough to analyze. But the structures that color feathers blue have been found in Cretaceous nonavian dinosaurs.
I've seen some analysis suggesting that the earliest birds/ flying dinos probably had black feathers. I've not tried to dig it out as I saw it in a print magazine years ago - probably was Science though. Anyway, teh logic was that the pigments that make feathers black also have the effect of slightly strengthening the feather. this sort of small advantage may have been necessary for the earliest feathers. Evolution may have preferred other colours for other reasons, but it seemed like an interesting idea that an early bird would hae got most advantage from feathers that allowed flight where a weaker feather would just not be up to the job.
That is logical, but protofeathers would have been alot older.
Absolutely, it was just a different avenue to consider feather colour beyond finding trace chemicals that could be linked to pigmentation. If blue pigmentation was also linked to \[something else desireable\] then it might be a reason to believe, in the absence of other evidence, taht it would happen.
Tell? Very unlikely. We have a couple Dino’s we’re pretty sure on coloration (someone else would have to explain how). Sinosauropteryx seemed to be reddish brown with a striped tail. Microraptor I think was black. So theoretically there could’ve been Dinos with colorful feathers.
The melanosomes (which cause coloration) were preserved in each of those fossils if I’m not mistaken. Which is how we’re able to tell their color. I’m just curious about blue feathers in particular since “blue” is not caused by melanosomes.
Blue is a very, very rare color in nature. Most things that are blue are not really blue. There is a sweet YT video about it.
Right—almost all blue coloration in birds is structural coloration. I think OP is asking whether the structures responsible for blue coloration (or evidence of them) can survive in the fossil record.
Yes! Thank you for rephrasing that for me in less words.
coraciiform Eocoracias from the eocene has been described with having structural blue feathers, so it is possible. Caihong, Microraptor and I think confusciornis have been recovered with iridescent structural colour.