Microscopic feather features reveal fossil birds' colors and explain why cassowaries shine

Some birds are iridescent because of the physical make-up of their feathers, but scientists had never found evidence of this structural color in the group of birds containing ostriches and cassowaries -- until now. Researchers have discovered both what gives cassowary feathers their glossy black shine and what the feathers of birds that lived 52 million years ago looked like.

from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/365RtmP