Vinther figured there was no reason pigment grains and melanosomes wouldn't survive in other fossilized creatures. He took a closer look at the suspicious dark smudges in an extinct bird fossil and ...

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In the world of birds, where fancy can be as fleeting as flight, the color of the bird apparently has a profound effect on more than just its image. A new study of barn swallows reveals it also ...

On the open savannas of East Africa, a flock of vulturine guinea fowl looks almost unreal. Bodies are patterned with crisp ...

Where do birds get their red feathers from? According to a new article, the red carotenoids that give the common crossbill its red coloration are produced in the liver, not the skin, as previously ...

Dinosaur books have become more colourful affairs of late, with the dull greens, browns and greys of yesteryear replaced by vivid hues, stripes and patterns. This has largely been a question of ...

The news that many dinosaurs were likely covered in a thick layer of feathers may make them seem a little less imposing — but it also means they may have been intensely colorful. Now scientists have ...

A powerful X-ray machine, that shines a light brighter than the sun, has helped science detectives determine the color of a 150-million-year-old feather that once belonged to an archaeopteryx, an ...

Another week, another colorful feathered dinosaur. Hot on the heels of a recent report identifying pigments in fossilized dino feathers and filaments (SN Online: 1/27/10), a different team of ...

Scientists get peacock feathers to emit laser light after adding dye and green pulses, revealing surprising biophotonic ...

'Girl with a Pearl Earring' is a masterpiece painted by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer in 1665. The girl's face in the painting is as vivid as the pearl. Vermeer painted on beige canvas to make the ...