"Most previous studies suggest that insulation might have been the primary function for the first feathers, but our discovery supports that display represents one of the earliest functions for ...

The natural marvels, which do everything from enabling acrobatic flight to insulating against Antarctic cold, continue to inspire new designs and technologies Ian Rose At the end of just about every ...

Birds of a feather may flock together, but the feathers of birds differ altogether. New research from an international team led by USC scientists set out to learn how feathers developed and helped ...

Progress in solving the particularly puzzling origin of feathers has also been hampered by what now appear to be false leads, such as the assumption that the primitive feather evolved by elongation ...

Over the last two decades, spectacular palaeontological discoveries, mainly from China, have revolutionized our understanding in the origin and evolution of feathers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Major novel ...

Filoplumes may be tiny, but these hairlike feathers enable nonstop flights that span thousands of miles. Filoplumes may be tiny, but these hairlike feathers enable nonstop flights that span thousands ...