ArticlePloS one2018
The microstructure of white feathers predicts their visible and near-infrared reflectance properties.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Color and Near-Infrared Reflectance Covary in Distinct Ways Across Taxa.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Hidden white and black feather layers enhance plumage coloration in tanagers and other songbirds.Science advances · 2025Article
- Polarization and reflectance are linked to climate, size and mechanistic constraints in a group of scarab beetles.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Adaptive and non-adaptive convergent evolution in feather reflectance of California Channel Islands songbirds.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- The evolution of sexually dimorphic traits in ecological gradients: an interplay between natural and sexual selection in hummingbirds.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Pretty Cool Beetles: Can Manipulation of Visible and Near-Infrared Sunlight Prevent Overheating?Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- Enhanced photothermal absorption in iridescent feathers.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2021Article
- Genetic architecture related to contour feathers density in an F3 Biotech · 2019Article
- Body coloration and mechanisms of colour production in Archelosauria: the case of deirocheline turtles.Royal Society open science · 2019Article
- Reflection of near-infrared light confers thermal protection in birds.Nature communications · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Research on the optical properties of animal integuments, including fur, feather, skin and cuticle, has focussed almost exclusively on animal-visible wavelengths within the narrow range of 300-700 nm. By contrast, the near-infrared (NIR) portion of direct sunlight, spanning 700-2600 nm, has been largely ignored despite its potentially important thermal consequences. We quantified variation in visible and NIR reflectance and transmission for white body contour feathers of 50 bird species, and examined how well they are predicted by feather macro- and micro-structural morphology. Both visible and NIR reflectance of the feathers varied substantially across species. Larger, thicker, and sparser feathers that are characteristic of larger species, and feathers with rounder barbs and more closely spaced barbules, had high average reflectance, particularly within avian-visible wavelengths (300-700 nm). Feathers with rounder barbs and more closely situated barbules also had high average reflectance, particularly for NIR wavelengths. Barb roundness and barbule density were the only predictors of NIR reflectance after accounting for variation in visible reflectance and body size. Our results highlight the potential for adaptive variation in NIR reflectance mediated by feather structure, which may inform the design of functional materials to control light and heat.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.