Together, these structures are essentially acting as multilayers reflectors.
In this pioneering work, Durrer demonstrated that many bird feathers have orderly organised melanosomes, cellular structures containing melanin, embedded in the feather’s keratin. Heinz Durrer from the University of Basel published comprehensive anatomical studies on bird feathers from 1962 to 1986. What has previous work told us about the structure of duck feathers? In ducks, structural coloured feathers are found in both males and females (though in the latter restricted to the speculum) which might help in intraspecific recognition. Many birds are very colourful, but notably the males, to be attractive to the females. Wilts, some questions about their research.Ī speculum feather (Figure 1 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2017.0407) Recent work, published in Journal of the Royal Society Interface, shows that the iridescent colours can be quantitatively explained by optical multilayer modelling. The iridescent colours arise from light interacting with stacks of melanosomes, melanin-pigment containing organelles, present in the feather barbules. A very common example is the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), with the blue-coloured speculum of both the male and female, and the green head feathers of the male. Many birds have brilliantly coloured, iridescent feathers.
0 kommentar(er)
