2010
DOI: 10.1038/nature08740
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Abstract: Spectacular fossils from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Group of northeastern China have greatly expanded our knowledge of the diversity and palaeobiology of dinosaurs and early birds, and contributed to our understanding of the origin of birds, of flight, and of feathers. Pennaceous (vaned) feathers and integumentary filaments are preserved in birds and non-avian theropod dinosaurs, but little is known of their microstructure. Here we report that melanosomes (colour-bearing organelles) are not only preserved in t… Show more

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Cited by 246 publications
(216 citation statements)
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“…Similar fossilized feather traces have been found to preserve colour-imparting organelles called melanosomes [12][13][14][15][16] , which consist of melanins, the most widespread and abundant pigments in animals and found in the feathers of all birds (excluding albinos) 4 . Melanins primarily fall into two categories, eumelanins and phaeomelanins 4 , and the morphological properties of the associated melanosomes have been used to reconstruct various plumage colours of extinct dinosaurs [12][13][14][15][16] .…”
mentioning
confidence: 72%
See 1 more Smart Citation
“…Similar fossilized feather traces have been found to preserve colour-imparting organelles called melanosomes [12][13][14][15][16] , which consist of melanins, the most widespread and abundant pigments in animals and found in the feathers of all birds (excluding albinos) 4 . Melanins primarily fall into two categories, eumelanins and phaeomelanins 4 , and the morphological properties of the associated melanosomes have been used to reconstruct various plumage colours of extinct dinosaurs [12][13][14][15][16] .…”
mentioning
confidence: 72%
“…Melanins primarily fall into two categories, eumelanins and phaeomelanins 4 , and the morphological properties of the associated melanosomes have been used to reconstruct various plumage colours of extinct dinosaurs [12][13][14][15][16] . Elucidating the phylogenetic and anatomical distributions of feather colouration can further our understanding of dinosaur evolution, palaeobiology and aesthetics.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…These structures are not true feathers, but rather small filamentous integumentary structures termed "protofeathers," a presumed evolutionary precursor to true feathers. Their nature had been disputed until the recent report that they contain color-bearing melanosomes exactly as in modern bird feathers (Zhang et al, 2010; see also Li et al, 2010). These finds were soon followed by the announcement of feathers of modern aspect, nearly indistinguishable from those in living birds, in a number of close bird relatives (Ji et al, 1998).…”
Section: Feathers: a Dinosaur Innovation?mentioning
confidence: 94%
“…Molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest that four of the five classes of vertebrate opsin genes, and hence colour vision, already existed by the Early Cambrian 13,14 . Although colour-producing pigments have been suggested to have been preserved in the external parts of some fossil Mesozoic vertebrates [15][16][17][18][19][20] , providing some evidence that vertebrates were colour adapted in past geological times, hitherto there has been no direct evidence of colour-sensitive receptors in fossil vertebrates. We here report on the tissues of the eye of the acanthodii fish Acanthodes bridgei, which provides the first record of rods and cones in a fossil and indicates that fish likely possessed colour vision for at least 300 Myr.…”
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confidence: 99%