연구논문
논문명 How keratin cortex thickness affects iridescent feather colours
-
저자
이은옥, 김지영
-
년도
2023
-
저자유형
공동저자
-
등재매체(학술지명)
Royal Society Open Science
The bright, saturated iridescent colours of feathers are commonly produced by single and multi-layers of nanostructured melanin granules (melanosomes), air and keratin matrices, surrounded by an outer keratin cortex of varying thicknesses. The role of the keratin cortex in colour production remains unclear, despite its potential to act as a thin film or absorbing layer. We use electron microscopy, optical simulations and oxygen plasmamediated experimental cortex removal to show that differences in keratin cortex thickness play a significant role in producing
colours. The results indicate that keratin cortex thickness determines the position of the major reflectance peak (hue) from nanostructured melanosomes of common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) feathers. Specifically, the common pheasant has appropriate keratin cortex thickness to produce blue and green structural colours. This finding identifies a general principle of structural colour production and sheds light on the processes that shaped the evolution of brilliant iridescent colours in the common pheasant.