Reconstruction of Microraptor and the Evolution of Iridescent Plumage

2012/03/08 by Quanguo Li, Ke-Qin Gao, Qingjin Meng +7 · 10 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Amphibian and Reptile Biology #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1213780

openalex publication_date 2012/03/08 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

Iridescent feather colors involved in displays of many extant birds are produced by nanoscale arrays of melanin-containing organelles (melanosomes). Data relevant to the evolution of these colors and the properties of melanosomes involved in their generation have been limited. A data set sampling variables of extant avian melanosomes reveals that those forming most iridescent arrays are distinctly narrow. Quantitative comparison of these data with melanosome imprints densely sampled from a previously unknown specimen of the Early Cretaceous feathered Microraptor predicts that its plumage was predominantly iridescent. The capacity for simple iridescent arrays is thus minimally inferred in paravian dinosaurs. This finding and estimation of Microraptor feathering consistent with an ornamental function for the tail suggest a centrality for signaling in early evolution of plumage and feather color.

Citations

• On the Tails of Birds
• Fossilized melanosomes and the colour of Cretaceous dinosaurs and birds
• Four-winged dinosaurs from China
• An Archaeopteryx-like theropod from China and the origin of Avialae
• A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like feathers
• A Basal Dromaeosaurid and Size Evolution Preceding Avian Flight
• A pre-Archaeopteryx troodontid theropod from China with long feathers on the metatarsus
• Insight into the evolution of avian flight from a new clade of Early Cretaceous ornithurines from China and the morphology of Yixianornis grabaui
• Nocturnality in Dinosaurs Inferred from Scleral Ring and Orbit Morphology
• Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur
• Structural coloration in a fossil feather
• Soft Tissue Preservation in Terrestrial Mesozoic Vertebrates
• Biplane wing planform and flight performance of the feathered dinosaur Microraptor gui

Cited by

• Bristles before down: A new perspective on the functional origin of feathers
• An integrative approach to understanding bird origins
• Rhetoric vs. reality: A commentary on “Bird Origins Anew” by A. Feduccia
• The wings before the bird: an evaluation of flapping-based locomotory hypotheses in bird antecedents
• A simple neokeynesian model without the LM curve
• PISCIVORY IN THE FEATHERED DINOSAURMICRORAPTOR
• Potential for Powered Flight Neared by Most Close Avialan Relatives, but Few Crossed Its Thresholds
• Feather [wikipedia]
• Glossary of bird terms [wikipedia]
• Microraptor [wikipedia]
• Plumage [wikipedia]