Iridescent structural colour production in male blue-black grassquit feather barbules: the role of keratin and melanin.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Rafael MaiaRegina H Macedo

Abstract

Iridescent coloration plays an important role in the visual communication system of many animal taxa. It is known that iridescent structural colours result from layers of materials with different refractive indexes, which in feathers usually are keratin, melanin and air. However, the role of these materials in the production of structural iridescent coloration is still poorly documented. Despite the great interspecific variation in the organization of such structures in bird plumage, melanin layers are usually considered too opaque, suggesting its main role is to delineate the outermost keratin layer and absorb incoherently scattered stray light. We combined spectrometry, electron microscopy and thin-film optical modelling to describe the UV-reflecting iridescent colour of feather barbules of male blue-black grassquits (Volatinia jacarina), characterized by a keratin layer overlying a single melanin layer. Our models indicate that both the keratin and the melanin layers are essential for production of the observed colour, influencing the coherent scattering of light. The melanin layer in some barbules may be thin enough to allow interaction with the underlying keratin; however, individuals usually have, on an average, the minim...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 27, 2012·Biology Letters·Holly K SnyderMatthew D Shawkey
Apr 11, 2009·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Melissa G MeadowsRonald L Rutowski
Dec 3, 2010·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Rafael MaiaMatthew D Shawkey
Dec 17, 2010·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Doekele G StavengaDaniel Osorio
Jul 20, 2014·Behavioural Processes·João V O CaetanoRegina H Macedo
Mar 18, 2011·Zoology : Analysis of Complex Systems, ZACS·Matthew D ShawkeyLi Jia
Jul 15, 2011·Journal of Morphology·Matthew D ShawkeyLiliana D'Alba
Apr 19, 2016·Micron : the International Research and Review Journal for Microscopy·Biswa Bhusana MahapatraMonalisa Mishra
Jan 11, 2014·Behavioural Processes·Raphael I DiasRegina H Macedo
Jan 15, 2015·Biomacromolecules·Tong-Fei Wu, Jong-Dal Hong
Oct 14, 2010·Optics Express·Chad M Eliason, Matthew D Shawkey
Mar 20, 2015·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Cheng-Chung LeePete Vukusic
Aug 12, 2016·Chemical Society Reviews·Ahu Gümrah Dumanli, Thierry Savin
Dec 25, 2015·Science Advances·Bor-Kai HsiungTodd A Blackledge
Dec 28, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Alfredo O Barrera-GuzmánJason T Weir
Sep 11, 2019·Scientific Reports·Veronika Gvoždíková JavůrkováJordan Karubian
Feb 24, 2017·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Casper J van der KooiDoekele G Stavenga
Apr 5, 2018·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Gergely HegyiJános Török
Jul 1, 2021·Ecology and Evolution·Braulio A AssisTracy Langkilde
May 15, 2021·Genome Biology and Evolution·Pietro Longo Hollanda de MelloRichard E Glor
Aug 26, 2021·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Fengting HuangShiguo Chen

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