Your Web Site
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor The ability to reconstruct the colour of fossil feathers that adorned the first birds and their ancestors, the dinosaurs, has come from a discovery reported today. Traces of organic material have been found in fossil feathers that are remnants of the pigments that once gave birds their hue, according to Yale University scientists who believe that fossilised fur should be able to yield its colour too. Study of a number of fossilized bird feathers by student Jakob Vinther revealed that organic imprints in the fossils - previously thought to be carbon traces from bacteria - are fossilised melanosomes, the structures in cells that contain a pigment called melanin. However, the team has not yet exploited the discovery to reconstruct ancient plumage. "Birds frequently have spectacularly coloured... [read full story]
