Tag Archives: maria e mcnamara

True colors of some fossil feathers now in doubt

By Guest PostMarch 30, 2013Naturecolors of feathers, derek briggs, dinosaur feather colors, earth, experimental technique, fossil bird, fossil feathers, fossilization process, geological processes, maria e mcnamara, melanosomes, modern birds, original colors, pigment melanin, reconstruction, surface, tiny granules, true colors, yale university paleontologist, yale university scientists, zhengrong wang

Geological processes can affect evidence of the original colors of fossil feathers, according to new research by Yale University scientists, who said some previous reconstructions of fossil bird and dinosaur feather colors may now merit revision.

The discovery reveals how the evidence for the colors of feathers — especially melanin-based colors — can be altered during fossilization, and suggests that past reconstructions of the original colors of feathers in some fossil birds and dinosaurs may be flawed. (more…)

Yale Research Reveals Ancient Moth’s True Colors

By Guest PostNovember 15, 2011Nature, Scienceanatomical details, birds, camouflage, chemical pigments, colors of ancient beetles, derek e g briggs, electron microscopy, feathered dinosaur, fishes, fossils from germany, Frankfurt, function and evolution, heeso noh, hui cao, insects, long extinct creatures, maria e mcnamara, messel oil shale pit, national science foundation, organisms, original colors of an ancient moth, peabody museum of natural history, structural colors, university college dublin, yale paleontologist, yale university

A research team led by Yale University scientists has for the first time determined the original colors of an ancient moth, based on nearly 50 million-year-old fossils from Germany.

The discovery could help scientists learn the colors of a wide variety of long-extinct creatures, including birds, fishes, and other insects, and shed light on color’s function and evolution. (more…)