Microanatomy and evolution of the nanostructures responsible for iridescent coloration in Trogoniformes (Aves)

Quintero, Esther

doi:10.1007/s13127-011-0049-z

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…While previous studies focusing on nanostructural evolution and color-producing mechanisms in a variety of avian groups ( Eliason et al, 2020 ; Eliason et al, 2015 ; Eliason et al, 2013 ; Eliason and Shawkey, 2012 ; Gammie, 2013 ; Gruson et al, 2019 ; Maia et al, 2013b ; Quintero and Espinosa de los Monteros, 2011 ) have given us valuable insights into the evolution and optics of iridescent structures, they have focused on specific species, small clades, or a particular melanosome type. Thus, they have not uncovered the broader, general principles governing the evolution of brilliant iridescent plumage, and several key questions remain unanswered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of brilliant iridescent feather nanostructures

Nordén

Eliason

Stoddard

2021

eLife

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The brilliant iridescent plumage of birds creates some of the most stunning color displays known in the natural world. Iridescent plumage colors are produced by nanostructures in feathers and have evolved in diverse birds. The building blocks of these structures—melanosomes (melanin-filled organelles)—come in a variety of forms, yet how these different forms contribute to color production across birds remains unclear. Here, we leverage evolutionary analyses, optical simulations, and reflectance spectrophotometry to uncover general principles that govern the production of brilliant iridescence. We find that a key feature that unites all melanosome forms in brilliant iridescent structures is thin melanin layers. Birds have achieved this in multiple ways: by decreasing the size of the melanosome directly, by hollowing out the interior, or by flattening the melanosome into a platelet. The evolution of thin melanin layers unlocks color-producing possibilities, more than doubling the range of colors that can be produced with a thick melanin layer and simultaneously increasing brightness. We discuss the implications of these findings for the evolution of iridescent structures in birds and propose two evolutionary paths to brilliant iridescence.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of brilliant iridescent feather nanostructures

Nordén

Eliason

Stoddard

2021

eLife

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“…Since melanosome type in plumage with metallic luster is often conserved within a genus (Nordén et al, 2021, Durrer, 1977, Quintero & Espinosa de los Monteros, 2011, these observations suggest that metallic luster is produced with hollow rods in the clades Crotophaginae, Neomorphinae, Centropodinae and Couinae, while Cuculinae produces metallic luster with thin solid rods (with the exception of Phaenicophaeus).…”

Section: 21mentioning

confidence: 89%

“…In other words, once derived melanosomes evolve in a clade in order to achieve bright metallic luster in the plumage, this is likely to cause a higher frequency of metallic luster in this clade more generally. Though previous studies have explored the evolution of feather nanostructures in several clades with metallic luster (including starlings (family Sturnidae) (Maia et al, 2013, 2016, Durrer & Villiger, 1970), ducks (family Anatidae) (Eliason et al, 2015), hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) (Gruson et al, 2019), and trogons (family Trogonidae) (Quintero & Espinosa de los Monteros, 2011, Durrer & Villiger, 1966)), no study has yet explored the drably colored species in the same clade. This represents an important missing puzzle piece in our understanding of the loss and gain of this structural color.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical contingency influences the diversity of feather nanostructures in cuckoos

Nordén,

Cooney,

Babarović

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Structural coloration is widespread in animals, yet we know relatively little about its evolution and development. While previous studies have explored adaptive functions of structural color, a key gap is our lack of understanding of how historical contingency (path-dependency of biological processes) influences the loss and gain of this complex trait. We shed light on this question by describing feather nanostructures responsible for plumage colors in the cuckoos (family Cuculidae), a group with widespread occurrence of shiny, metallic plumage (metallic luster). The melanosomes found in feathers with metallic luster have specialized shapes: hollow rods, thin solid rods, hollow platelets, or solid platelets. In contrast, it is generally assumed that drably colored feathers possess thick, rod-shaped melanosomes. However, we uncover that this assumption is unfounded in cuckoos. We describe metallic luster in the plumages of 126 cuckoo species and map its phylogenetic distribution. This reveals that metallic luster is widespread in cuckoos but has likely been lost several times. We then use transmission electron microscopy to describe the feather nanostructures of 21 cuckoo species. Surprisingly, the drab feathers of many cuckoo species contain melanosomes with specialized shapes. We propose that historical contingency greatly influences nanostructure diversity in cuckoos. Specialized melanosome shapes can be retained in the plumages of drab species, potentially making it easier for metallic luster to evolve again in the future. This discovery supports the idea that historical contingency plays a key role in shaping the evolution of plumage color diversity.

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“…While previous studies focusing on nanostructural evolution and color-producing mechanisms in a variety of avian subclades (Eliason et al, 2020(Eliason et al, , 2015(Eliason et al, , 2013Eliason and Shawkey, 2012;Gammie, 2013;Gruson et al, 2019;Maia et al, 2013b;Quintero and Espinosa de los Monteros, 2011) have given us valuable insights into the evolution and optics of iridescent structures, they have focused on specific species, subclades or a particular melanosome type in isolation. Thus, they have not uncovered the broader, general principles governing the evolution of brilliant iridescent plumage, and several key questions remain unanswered.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of brilliant iridescent feather nanostructures

Nordén

Eliason

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The brilliant iridescent plumage of birds creates some of the most stunning color displays known in the natural world. Iridescent plumage colors are produced by nanostructures in feathers and have evolved in a wide variety of birds. The building blocks of these structures - melanosomes (melanin-filled organelles) - come in a variety of forms, yet how these different forms contribute to color production across birds remains unclear. Here, we leverage evolutionary analyses, optical simulations and reflectance spectrophotometry to uncover general principles that govern the production of brilliant iridescence. We find that a key feature that unites all melanosome forms in brilliant iridescent structures is thin melanin layers. Birds have achieved this in multiple ways: by decreasing the size of the melanosome directly, by hollowing out the interior, or by flattening the melanosome into a platelet. The evolution of thin melanin layers unlocks color-producing possibilities, more than doubling the range of colors that can be produced with a thick melanin layer and simultaneously increasing brightness. We discuss the implications of these findings for the evolution of iridescent structures in birds and propose two evolutionary paths to brilliant iridescence.

show abstract

Microanatomy and evolution of the nanostructures responsible for iridescent coloration in Trogoniformes (Aves)

Cited by 5 publications

References 37 publications

Evolution of brilliant iridescent feather nanostructures

Evolution of brilliant iridescent feather nanostructures

Historical contingency influences the diversity of feather nanostructures in cuckoos

Evolution of brilliant iridescent feather nanostructures

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