9/17/2017 Everything You Need To Know About Feathers | Bird Academy The Cornell Lab

Everything You Need To Know About Feathers

Bird Academy (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org) / Bird-ology Articles (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/category/birdology-article/) / Everything You Need To Know About Feathers

Pages:
Previous page (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/4/)
1 (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/) 2 (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/2/) 3 (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/3/) 4
(https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/4/) 5 Next page (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/6/)
6 (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/6/)

Feather Evolution: How did feathers evolve?

Flight feathers, with their intricate microstructure, are impressive examples of natural engineering. But how did they evolve? From the fossil
record, we know that birds evolved from dinosaurs, some of which had feathers. But those first feathers had nothing to do with flightthey
probably helped dinosaurs show off.

Scientists recently worked out a hypothesis to explain how flight feathers could have evolved.3 (/feathers-article/6/#references) They probably began
as simple tufts, and then gradually developed through stages of increasing complexity into interlocking structures capable of supporting
flight.

Evolutionary stages:

(https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/Bird_Biology-feather_evolution_stages.png?x18947)

1. The earliest feather was a simple hollow tube.

2. The simple tube evolved into a cluster of barbs.

3. (a) The base of the barbs fused together to form a central rachis
and (b) barbules branched from the barbs, as we see in modern-day down feathers.

4. The barbules evolved hooks that interlock to make flat vanes as in current contour feathers.

5. The feather structure evolved asymmetry with the aerodynamic properties of modern-day flight feathers.

Fossil evidence recently unearthed in China and Canada has confirmed that bird ancestors did indeed possess feathers from each of the
steps in this proposed evolutionary pathway. Surprisingly, many theropod dinosaurs had simple stage 1 feathers covering their bodies. This
dino fuzz even covered close relatives of the great Tyrannosaurus rex. These early feathers may have been insulating, or when colorful,
may have helped dinosaurs show off or stay camouflaged. There is also intriguing evidence of more complex Stage 3 and 4 feathers from
finds like Ornithomimus edmontonicus. As adults, these large, bulky creatures sported feathers arranged along wing-like structures, but no
wing feather traces have been found among the juvenile specimens. This suggests that even as dinosaurs started to evolve wings, the wing
feathers were likely used for courtship or territorial display, not flight.4 (/feathers-article/6/#references)

https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/5/ 1/8
9/17/2017 Everything You Need To Know About Feathers | Bird Academy The Cornell Lab

(https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/wp-

content/uploads/Bird_Biology-Yutyrannus_BrianChoo.png?x18947) Illustration: Yutyrannus and other smaller dinosaurs from the Cretaceous
by Brian Choo

Though it may take time for people to get used to the idea of fuzzy or elaborately plumed meat-eating dinosaurs, this scientific breakthrough
reminds us that asking questions from multiple perspectives helps generate new testable hypotheses and scientific knowledge. For this
reason, it is becoming more and more common for scientists to work across disciplines. In fact, the active field of evolutionary-
developmental biology (evo-devo) focuses on discovering a structures evolutionary past by observing its process of growth and
development.

Further Learning

Navigate a cartoon about feather growth and evolution to learn more about how dino fuzz evolved into elegant

flight feathers

Interactive > (/feathers-through-time/)

Pages:
Previous page (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/4/)
1 (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/) 2 (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/2/) 3 (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/3/) 4
(https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/4/) 5 Next page (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/6/)
6 (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/6/)

Explore Similarly Tagged Posts:

altricial (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/altricial/) barb (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/barb/) barbule (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/barbule/)

beta-keratin (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/beta-keratin/) bristle (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/bristle/)

calamus (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/calamus/) camouflage (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/camouflage/)

contour feather (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/contour-feather/) coverts (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/coverts/)

dino fuzz (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/dino-fuzz/) display (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/display/) down (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/down/)

evo-devo (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/evo-devo/) feather anatomy (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/feather-anatomy/)

feather development (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/feather-development/) feather evolution (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/feather-evolution/)

feather growth (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/feather-growth/) feathers (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/feathers/)

filoplume (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/filoplume/) insulation (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/insulation/)

interlock (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/interlock/) levels of analysis (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/levels-of-analysis/)

molt (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/molt/) pennaceous (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/pennaceous/)

plumulaceous (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/plumulaceous/) precocial (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/precocial/)

primaries (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/primaries/) rachis (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/rachis/) rectrices (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/rectrices/)

remiges (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/remiges/) secondaries (https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/tag/secondaries/)

https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/feathers-article/5/ 2/8