Iridescent structural coloration in a crested Cretaceous enantiornithine bird from the Jehol Biota

A combination of sectioning and microscopy techniques, along with the application of finite-difference-time-domain modeling on a fossil feather, results in the novel estimation of the range of iridescent colors from the fossilized melanosome type and organization preserved in the elongate head crest feathers of a new Cretaceous enantiornithine bird. The densely packed rod-like melanosomes are estimated to have yielded from red to deep blue iridescent coloration of the head feathers. The shape and density of these melanosomes also may have further increased the feather’s structural strength. This occurrence on a likely male individual is highly suggestive of both a signaling function of the iridescent crest and a potential behavioral role in adjusting the angle of light incidence to control the display of this iridescent structural coloration.

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Publication Details

Journal
eLife
Published
2025-08-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.103628.3
Primary Topic
Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Iridescent structural coloration in a crested Cretaceous enantiornithine bird from the Jehol Biota

Zhonghe Zhou, Thomas A. Stidham, Julia A. Clarke, Tao Zhao et al.
eLife
Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
article

Iridescent structural coloration in a crested Cretaceous enantiornithine bird from the Jehol Biota

Zhonghe Zhou, Thomas A. Stidham, Julia A. Clarke, Tao Zhao, Jinsheng Hu, Jingshu Li, Mao Ye, Min Wang, Yanhong Pan, Zhiheng Li
article en

Abstract

A combination of sectioning and microscopy techniques, along with the application of finite-difference-time-domain modeling on a fossil feather, results in the novel estimation of the range of iridescent colors from the fossilized melanosome type and organization preserved in the elongate head crest feathers of a new Cretaceous enantiornithine bird. The densely packed rod-like melanosomes are estimated to have yielded from red to deep blue iridescent coloration of the head feathers. The shape and density of these melanosomes also may have further increased the feather’s structural strength. This occurrence on a likely male individual is highly suggestive of both a signaling function of the iridescent crest and a potential behavioral role in adjusting the angle of light incidence to control the display of this iridescent structural coloration.

eLifeVol. 14
Austin College (US), Planetary Science Institute (US), Yunnan University (CN), Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (CN), Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences (BY), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Beihang University (CN), The University of Texas at Austin (US)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Openalex Percentile: Top 91%
Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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Iridescent structural coloration in a crested Cretaceous enantiornithine bird from the Jehol Biota — Zhonghe Zhou, Thomas A. Stidham, et al. · eLife (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS