At first glance, feathers may seem like simple parts of a bird’s body. But if you look closer—under a microscope or through a scientific lens—they reveal an intricate story of evolution, biology, and ...

A paper published last year in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface described a feather as a masterpiece of engineering ...

Feathers are among the most complex cutaneous appendages in the animal kingdom. While their evolutionary origin has been widely debated, paleontological discoveries and developmental biology studies ...

Alteration of the expression of the co-called 'Sonic Hedgehog' gene can transform feet scale and wing feathers. While a transient over-expression of the gene can permanently turn feet scales into ...

Quick Take Vulturine guinea fowl’s blue and white plumage comes from feather structure, not pigments, creating vivid, long-distance visual signals. Bright colors and high-contrast patterns help ...

Growth modeling in avian species has emerged as a critical research area, integrating mathematical functions to characterise and predict the complex growth trajectories of birds from hatching to ...