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 ...

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 ...

More than 99% of birds can fly. But that still leaves many species that evolved to be flightless, including penguins, ostriches, and kiwi birds. In a new study in the journal Evolution, researchers ...

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 ...