Quick Take Baby penguin chicks molt from down to juvenile feathers in a patchy phase that often creates a hat-like puff on ...

Scientists have successfully genetically modified chickens to make their feathers resemble those of dinosaurs. This study is part of a broader effort to understand how and why feathers evolved.

New research shows that the processes involved in hair, fur, and feather growth are remarkably similar to the way scales grow on fish—a finding that points to a single, ancient origin of these ...

At first glance, feathers may seem like simple parts of a bird’s body. But if you look closer—under a microscope or through a scientific lens—they reveal an intricate story of evolution, biology, and ...

Negative experiences during feather growth can result in fault bar formation. Fault bars are malformations perpendicular to the rachis of the feather caused by stressful experiences during feather ...

New Haven, Conn. -- Biologists testing a mathematical model of the mechanism birds use to control the growth of complex feathers found that plumed feather structures involve the coordination of at ...

Over the past decade and a half paleontologists have found the remains of numerous feathered dinosaurs, but, as announced in this week's edition of Nature, a new pair of specimens may show how the ...

This is a preview. Log in through your library . Abstract Plant–soil feedbacks can maintain or reinforce alternative states within ecological systems. In Alaskan boreal forests, changes in fire ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. GrrlScientist writes about evolution, ecology, behavior and health. With rare exceptions, parrots are colorful -- many of them, ...