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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/researchers-have-discovered-a-way-to-track-colour-pigments-from-fossils/story-e6frg8y6-1226085554165


Researchers have discovered a way to track colour pigments from fossils From: AFP
July 01, 2011


RESEARCHERS using sophisticated x-ray technology have been able to colour in history's fossils, by determining pigments from trace chemicals.
An international team has found chemical traces of a key colour pigment in 100-million year old fossilised birds that once formed their feather patterns.

It means that artists can now depict the long-extinct birds in their true colours.

The study, reported in the journal Science, provides a glimpse into the biochemistry of prehistoric animals and greater understanding of their diets and environment.

Working at Stanford University's National Accelerator Laboratory in California, the author's discovered chemical traces of a pigment, known as eumelanin, that is one of the colouring agents responsible for brown eyes and dark hair in many modern species, including humans.

"This is a pigment that evolved a very, very long time ago, but is still actively synthesised by organisms on the planet," said geochemist Roy Wogelius of the University of Manchester, one of the leaders of an international team that reported the discovery.

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"We found a way to map it and show its presence over 120 million years of geological time passing," he said.

"It is a direct relationship between you, me, and some extremely old organisms."

Using synchrotron radiation, the researchers examined two fossilised birds, Confuciusornis sanctus, which lived 120 million years ago, and had the first known bird-like beak, and Gansus yumenensis, considered the oldest modern bird, which lived more than 100 million years ago and looked a bit like a modern grebe, a type of freshwater diving bird.