Collaborative Research: Paleocolor--The Mechanics and Evolution of Plumage Color in Birds and Other Dinosaurs

合作研究：古色——鸟类和其他恐龙羽毛颜色的机制和进化

• 批准号: 1251922
• 负责人: Julia Clarke
• 金额: $ 14.02万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-04-01 至 2017-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1251922&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Paleocolor; Mechanics; Evolution

Collaborative Research: Paleocolor- the mechanisms and evolution of plumage color in birds and other dinosaurs Matthew Shawkey, Univ. Akron, EAR-1251895 Julia Clarke, Univ. Texas, Austin, EAR-1251922This award is being co-funded by NSF's International Science and Engineering section. ABSTRACTThe proposed research will greatly improve our knowledge of the physiology of melanin-based color production, will provide unique insight into the significance of color and color-based novelties to the evolution of birds, and may provide inspiration for new optical nanostructures. The recent discovery that evidence of feather coloration can be found in the fossil record in the form of preserved melanosomes (melanin-containing organelles) now allows investigation of plumage coloration in a framework considering both extinct and living dinosaur species. PIs propose to identify how melanosome morphology and chemistry relate to color production in extant birds, determine how these relationships may be altered by fossilization, and then use these data to test hypotheses on the significance of plumage color to avian evolution. This interdisciplinary proposal, involving morphology, paleontology, evolutionary biology and chemistry, is therefore divided into two linked sections with specific deliverables. In the first section, PIs will use ultraviolet-visible reflectance spectrometry to objectively measure color of extant feathers, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to quantify melanosome morphology, synchrotron-based mass spectrometry to examine chemistry and atomic force microscopy to examine surface texture of melanosomes. The use of these multiple measurements, and statistical analyses to quantitatively identify relationships between them and color, will allow them to make confident reconstructions of color based on assessment of fossil samples. Experimental degradation of feathers and melanosomes will help PIs determine how melanosome shape and/or chemistry may be altered. The second section brings data from the first to address previously untestable hypotheses concerning the origin and role of color diversity in feather evolution. Using focused ion beam (FIB) milling and microscopy, PIs will identify the presence of novel morphologies contributing to color diversification in birds, i.e. iridescent nanostructures and hollow, flattened melanosomes that produce some of the brightest colors in nature. That will allow PIs to estimate how melanosome morphological diversity and thus color may have shifted from early in evolution of feathers through modern birds and whether this diversification was associated with major transitions in the evolution of feathers. The color of dinosaurs presents an engaging context to bring fundamentals of chemistry, physics, and biology to the classroom and the lay public. PIs propose several public outreach programs that will capitalize on strong public interest in this work. Development of publicly available data analysis tools will allow broad applications of their techniques by the scientific community.

合作研究：古色——鸟类和其他恐龙羽毛颜色的机制和进化马修·肖基，大学。阿克伦，EAR-1251895 朱莉娅·克拉克，大学。德克萨斯州奥斯汀，EAR-1251922 该奖项由 NSF 国际科学与工程部门共同资助。 摘要：所提出的研究将极大地提高我们对基于黑色素的颜色产生的生理学的了解，将为颜色和基于颜色的新颖性对鸟类进化的重要性提供独特的见解，并可能为新的光学纳米结构提供灵感。最近发现，羽毛着色的证据可以在保存的黑素体（含黑色素细胞器）的形式的化石记录中找到，现在可以在考虑灭绝和现存恐龙物种的框架中研究羽毛着色。 PI建议确定黑素体形态和化学与现存鸟类颜色产生的关系，确定这些关系如何因化石化而改变，然后使用这些数据来检验关于羽毛颜色对鸟类进化的重要性的假设。因此，这一跨学科提案涉及形态学、古生物学、进化生物学和化学，因此分为两个相互关联的部分，并提供具体的成果。 在第一部分中，PI 将使用紫外可见反射光谱法来客观测量现存羽毛的颜色，使用扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 来量化黑素体形态，使用基于同步加速器的质谱法来检查化学成分，并使用原子力显微镜来检查黑素体的表面纹理。 。使用这些多次测量和统计分析来定量识别它们与颜色之间的关系，将使他们能够根据化石样本的评估进行可靠的颜色重建。 羽毛和黑素体的实验降解将帮助 PI 确定如何改变黑素体的形状和/或化学成分。第二部分带来了第一部分的数据，以解决有关羽毛进化中颜色多样性的起源和作用的先前无法检验的假设。使用聚焦离子束 (FIB) 铣削和显微镜，PI 将识别有助于鸟类颜色多样化的新颖形态的存在，即虹彩纳米结构和中空、扁平的黑素体，它们产生自然界中一些最亮的颜色。这将使 PI 能够估计黑素体形态多样性以及颜色从羽毛进化早期到现代鸟类的变化，以及这种多样化是否与羽毛进化的重大转变有关。恐龙的颜色提供了一个引人入胜的背景，将化学、物理和生物学的基础知识带入课堂和普通公众。 PI 提出了几项公共宣传计划，这些计划将利用公众对这项工作的强烈兴趣。公开数据分析工具的开发将使科学界能够广泛应用其技术。