When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Researchers inhibited a gene during embryonic development in chickens to see if it would make ...

Feathers may define birds today, but their story began millions of years ago in creatures that looked very different from modern avians. A new study has just pushed the boundary of evolutionary ...

A team of paleontologists has identified, on two pterosaur specimens, four types of feathers shared by dinosaurs and modern ...

1. Introduction to the morphology, development, and ecology of feathers -- 2. Molecular and cellular mechanisms of feather development provide a basis for diverse evolution of feather forms -- 3. The ...

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 ...

The newly described Mirasaura grauvogeli from the Middle Triassic had a striking feather-like crest, hinting that complex skin appendages arose far earlier than previously believed. Its bird-like ...

A natural miracle -- Evolution. The Rosetta Stone ; Heat shields, gliders, and insect scoops ; The Yixian Formation ; How to catch a muttonbird -- Fluff. Keeping warm ; Staying cool -- Flight.