Melanosomes are the microscopic packages of melanin pigments that give feathers their black, gray, or brown coloration. What Jakob and Derek hadn’t told me at first was that the electron ...

Pigment in the feather suggests it would have been medium- or dark-brown in color. An isolated barb from a white belly feather of a modern grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis), illustrating coiled ...

Growing these new feathers will allow Pesto to eventually swim. While king penguin chicks' brown feathers are insulating, they are not waterproof, which is where their adult plumage comes in handy.