Striped surprise: The banded fossil of a feather from Brazil.
Credit: Yale University
Behavioural clues
Melanosomes are found in fur and skin as well as feathers, so – if they can find them – scientists may be able to use them predict the colour of fossilised mammals or even dinosaurs, said Briggs.
Andrew Parker, who studies fossilised visual systems at the University of Sydney, Australia, said the findings could be especially useful for predicting whether fossilised birds or dinosaurs used camouflage.
"Certain patterns are associated with certain behavioural strategies," he said, meaning that an understanding of the colour of a species can tell us about its behaviour too. "Disruptive colouration - to break up the outline of an animal against its background - carries the most potential here."
While this is the first time melanosomes have been found in fossil feathers, they have been found in other kinds of fossils, said Parker, who is not one of the study's authors. For example, frog fossils have been found with melanosome structures that suggest yellow and red skin.
Briggs said the next step is to compare the melanosomes of fossil birds with those of colourful living relatives.
