Feathers exhibit complex pigment patterns and can be a great model to learn how morphogenesis patterns stem cells into organized tissues. Lin et al. identify feather follicle melanocyte progenitors ...

While it may be true, as the old adage goes, that 'birds of a feather flock together,' what is less certain is how the feathers on those birds come to have their distinct patterns and colorations.

If feathers did not evolve first for flight, what other advantage could they have provided the creatures that had them? Some ...

Shearwaters are migratory marine birds that travel in a figure-of-eight pattern between the coasts of Siberia and Japan to Tasmania. Placing one of the undistinguished grey feathers from a shearwater ...

Feathers evolved in dinosaurs and are a key characteristic of birds today. They are arranged in a precise hexagonal pattern in a bird's skin, but it has been unclear how this happens. According to a ...

Complex and vibrant bird plumage inspired Darwin’s concept of sexual selection as well as many a poem and painting. But feather patterns are not directly coded in DNA, and only now has it become clear ...

According to a new study, the precise patterning of bird feathers relies on signaling through ectodysplasin (EDA) and its receptor EDAR -- the same signaling pathway known to be crucial for the ...