Colour in modern ecosystems is an important biological factor, but the colours of extinct organisms
Colour in modern ecosystems is an important biological factor, but the colours of extinct organisms are rarely preserved. Colour is most often found preserved in fossilised arthropod carapaces and brachiopod shells, but it is unknown whether or not this is true colour or a result of the fosilisation process.Up until recently there was very little research done in the field of “fossil colour”, but the research that has been done has been very exciting. The most important breakthrough of recent times came in 2008 with the discovery of fossilised microstructures that closely resemble modern melaosomes (the structures responsible for menalin) in fossilised feathers found in the Cretaceous Rocks of the Carto Fm, Brazil. Menalin is found in two forms in today’s natural world; Yellow which occurs in spherical shapes and dark brown/black which occurs in sausage shapes. When these shapes are preserved like they were in the Carto rocks researchers can look at the concentrations of the different types and begin to piece together an acurate portrayal of what the fossilised specimen would have looked like. Anchiornis huxleyi is one such fossil to have been reconstructed (below). To read more; http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100127-dinosaurs-color-feathers-science/o/ -LL -- source link
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