As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday, 3 June 2018

Dino-bird dandruff research head and shoulders above rest



Date:  May 28, 2018
Source:  University College Cork

Palaeontologists from University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland have discovered 125 million-year-old dandruff preserved amongst the plumage of feathered dinosaurs and early birds, revealing the first evidence of how dinosaurs shed their skin.

UCC's Dr Maria McNamara and her team studied the fossil cells, and dandruff from modern birds, with powerful electron microscopes for the study, published today in the journal Nature Communications.

"The fossil cells are preserved with incredible detail -- right down to the level of nanoscale keratin fibrils. What's remarkable is that the fossil dandruff is almost identical to that in modern birds -- even the spiral twisting of individual fibres is still visible," said Dr Maria McNamara.

Continued 

Posted by at
Labels: , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)