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Melanosome diversity and convergence in the evolution of iridescent avian feathers-Implications for paleocolor reconstruction
- Source :
- Evolution. 73:15-27
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Some of the most varied colors in the natural world are created by iridescent nanostructures in bird feathers, formed by layers of melanin-containing melanosomes. The morphology of melanosomes in iridescent feathers is known to vary, but the extent of this diversity, and when it evolved, is unknown. We use scanning electron microscopy to quantify the diversity of melanosome morphology in iridescent feathers from 97 extant bird species, covering 11 orders. In addition, we assess melanosome morphology in two Eocene birds, which are the stem lineages of groups that respectively exhibit hollow and flat melanosomes today. We find that iridescent feathers contain the most varied melanosome morphologies of all types of bird coloration sampled to date. Using our extended dataset, we predict iridescence in an early Eocene trogon (cf. Primotrogon) but not in the early Eocene swift Scaniacypselus, and neither exhibit the derived melanosome morphologies seen in their modern relatives. Our findings confirm that iridescence is a labile trait that has evolved convergently in several lineages extending down to paravian theropods. The dataset provides a framework to detect iridescence with more confidence in fossil taxa based on melanosome morphology.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine
Trogon
Morphology (biology)
Biology
biology.organism_classification
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Iridescence
03 medical and health sciences
030104 developmental biology
Extant taxon
Evolutionary biology
Feather
visual_art
Genetics
visual_art.visual_art_medium
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Melanosome
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00143820
- Volume :
- 73
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Evolution
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........55c979c49c6c83a11c5cc592b89ad9f8