微猛龙的重建和彩虹色羽毛的演变
Quanguo Li1, Ke-Qin Gao, Qingjin Meng
1Beijing Museum of Natural History, 126 Tianqiao South Street, Beijing 100050, People's Republic of China.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|March 10, 2012
概括
鸟类的虹色羽毛颜色是由纳米级的黑色素结构所制造的,称为黑色素体. 对Microraptor化石的分析表明,这些恐龙也有虹彩的羽毛,这表明基于羽毛的信号的早期演变.
科学领域:
- 古生物学的古生物学
- 生物物理学的生物物理.
- 进化生物学 进化生物学
背景情况:
- 现代鸟类的虹色羽毛颜色是由含有黑色素的有机体 (黑色素体) 的纳米级阵列产生的.
- 关于这些颜色的进化和涉及的黑色素体的特性,存在有限的数据.
- 了解黑色素体结构是重建古代羽毛颜色的关键.
研究的目的:
- 为了研究产生虹彩的鸟类黑色素体的特性.
- 推断早期白纪恐龙Microraptor中虹彩色羽毛的存在和特征.
- 探索信号在羽毛和羽毛颜色的早期演变中的作用.
主要方法:
- 收集和分析现存鸟类黑色素体的变量数据.
- 量化比较现存的黑色素体数据与Microraptor化石的印记.
- 根据黑色素体结构估计的羽毛和虹彩.
主要成果:
- 在现存的鸟类中形成虹彩阵列的黑色素显然很窄.
- 微猛龙的黑色素体印记预测主要是虹彩的羽毛.
- 简单的虹彩阵列的能力是在帕拉维亚恐龙中推断出来的.
结论:
- 羽毛微观结构分析可以预测古代的虹彩.
- 微猛龙很可能拥有虹彩的羽毛,特别是在它的尾巴上,这表明它的装饰功能.
- 信号传输可能是恐龙羽毛和羽毛颜色早期进化的核心.
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