ArticleCommunications biology2020
Archaeopteryx feather sheaths reveal sequential center-out flight-related molting strategy.
Article in Communications biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Wing morphology of Anchiornis huxleyi and the evolution of molt strategies in paravian dinosaurs.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Forelimb feathering, soft tissues, and skeleton of the flying dromaeosaurid Microraptor.BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Laser-stimulated fluorescence reveals unseen details in fossils from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Limestones.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
- Reinterpretation of purported molting evidence in the Thermopolis Archaeopteryx.Communications biology · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Modern flying birds molt to replace old and worn feathers that inhibit flight performance, but its origins are unclear. We address this by presenting and evaluating a ~150 million year old record of molting in a feathered dinosaur from the early bird Archaeopteryx. Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence revealed feather sheaths that are otherwise invisible under white light. These are separated by one feather and are not in numerical sequential order and are mirrored in both wings. This indicates that a sequential center-out molting strategy was already present at the origins of flight, which is used in living falcons to preserve maximum flight performance. This strategy would have been a welcome advantage for early theropod flyers that had poor flight capabilities. This discovery provides important insights into how birds refined their early flight capabilities before the appearance of the keeled sternum, pygostyle and triosseal canal.
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