Nov 24th, 2016: First Turkey

[xoxoxoBruce]

Not really a turkey, the turkey's oldest known ancestor.

Fossils of ancient bird, Eoconfuciusornis, revealed microscopic evidence of pigment
within its feathers, which were preserved for 130 million years.

Scientists studied Eoconfuciusornis beta-keratin buried deep within the animal’s fossilized
feathers. They probed the keratin structures to find small, dark grains called melanosomes.
These are the little specks within animal cells that give skin and other tissues its color.
Although melanosomes had been discovered in fossilized creatures before, it was previously
too difficult to tell if the dark granules belonged to the animal itself or ancient microorganisms
preserved alongside it.

This technique brings the promise of discovering more colors.

The melanosomes examined with the new technique lent support to the idea that the early
Confucius bird’s body was brownish or dark in color. What’s more, the study hinted at future
discoveries embedded within additional ancient skins and feathers. As Pan said to the South
China Morning Post, “We can use the same technology to study other animals, such as dinosaurs.”

Link

[Snakeadelic]

Similar study on a fossil of a juvenile proto-bird has found structural detailing that indicates some of them were shiny, too! Iridescence in birds is not caused by pigments alone; it needs certain feather structures and now we have good enough tools, processes, and fossils to find it.

I'm pretty excited about the triple fossil too! A snake, with a lizard still in its belly, and a bug (beetle I think) in the lizard's gut. And the fossil chunk of hadrosaur skull with actual fossilized circulatory system bits AND brain tissue! And of course the snake from a few years back that was apparently killed by a landslide while raiding a dino nest for hatchlings.

If I actually kept up to date on fossils, I'd probably be even more annoying.

[Carruthers]

First Turkey? I thought that was going to be a post in the forthcoming Trump administration.

Perhaps the bird given a Presidential pardon at Thanksgiving might apply for the job.

[infinite monkey]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

First Turkey? I thought that was going to be a post in the forthcoming Trump administration.

Perhaps the bird given a Presidential pardon at Thanksgiving might apply for the job.

[footfootfoot]

Somewhat related: how a butterfly gets the color on its wing. In theory, you could build a similar structure from 2x4s and at a distance it would have the same color.
skip to about 5 minutes for a description of the structure itself.