At the American Society for Cell Biology's 2006 conference, scientists will describe their latest research on patterning, on the molecular and systems level. The scientists looked at how feather ...

Scientists have successfully genetically modified chickens to make their feathers resemble those of dinosaurs. This study is part of a broader effort to understand how and why feathers evolved.

Birds show an amazing diversity in plumage color and patterning. But what are the genetic mechanisms creating such patterns? Researchers now report that two independent mutations are required to ...

In a new study, researchers inhibited a gene during embryonic development to make chicken feathers more primitive, like the kind of simple tube-shaped proto-feathers that likely first emerged in the ...

In sharp-tailed grouse (Pedioecetes phasianellus) and prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) the pattern of crown feathers varies according to sex. Crown feathers of males are dark with a buff-colored ...

Estrogen derived from the ovaries transforms the default (primitive) male-type feathers into female-type feathers by regulating the hormone systems within the feather follicles. Birds possess unique ...