structural color
51. Lipochromes create red feathers: scarlet macaw
"In this first examination of the variety of colourful pigments present in parrot feathers, we studied 44 parrot species from 27 genera and found that they all use the same set of five lipochromes to colour their feathers red…Red parrot fea...
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52. Rapid color change used for protection: cuttlefish
"To survive this turn of events required a pretty clever solution, and cuttlefish rose to the challenge in ways we are only just beginning to discover. We have known for a long time that these creatures have the world's best camouflage skills, but...
53. Eyes specialized for different types of vision: starlings
"In 2000, a team of researchers led by biologist Dr. Nathan Hart of Queensland University in Australia revealed that the retinal cellular composition of a starling's two eyes differs."In its left eye, the retina has more single cones - photosensit...
54. Interwoven trees gain structural support: tropical trees
"In tropical jungles, with their great variety of species, we encounter a multitude of mechanical ideas for construction…We also find thin trunks joining into bundles, supporting each other and forming an upward winding spiral. Obviously, t...
55. Luminescence signals ripening: banana
"FCCs (fluorescent catabolites of chlorophyll) were first described about ten years ago as shortlived intermediates of chlorophyll breakdown in higher plants and were occasionally also detected in extracts of artificially degreened leaves. I...
56. Bones' supporting beams provide strength: birds and mammals
"Many bones are supported internally by a latticework of trabeculae [Latin: "little beams"; they provide structural support, especially near joints]...We analysed trabecular geometry in the femora of 90 terrestrial mammalian and avian species with...
57. Microscopic plates produce interference colors: copepods
"A strange copepod called Sapphirina shows dramatic interference colours. Microscopic plates in its surface layers are so arranged as to produce a flash of colour when viewed from certain angles. From other angles, the copepod appears quite transp...
59. Continuous fibers prevent structural weakness: trees
"There has been relatively little attempt to produce an artificial analogue to wood because wood is cheap, lightweight, tough, moldable, and easily shaped. However, when a hole is drilled in timber, it weakens the structure. The tree, however, dri...
60. Pressure provides structural support: blackback land crab
"Here we show that whenever its exoskeleton is shed, the blackback land crab Gecarcinus lateralis relies on an unconventional type of hydrostatic skeleton that uses both gas and liquid (a 'pneumo-hydrostat'). To our knowledge, this is the first ex...
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