Structural Color of Rock Dove's Neck Feather

Full text:
PDF (eReader) / PDF (Download) (826 kB)

Eri Nakamura¹, Shinya Yoshioka², and Shuichi Kinoshita²

+ Affiliations

¹Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043²Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871

Received August 29, 2008; Accepted October 2, 2008; Published November 25, 2008

It is well known that some kinds of animal have surprisingly brilliant colors showing beautiful iridescence. These colors are called structural colors, and are thought to originate from optical interference caused by periodic microstructures that have sizes comparable with the wavelength of light. However, much larger structural modifications can also play an important role in the coloration mechanism. In this paper, we show through careful optical and structural investigations that the structural color of the neck feather of rock dove, Columba livia , has a very comprehensive mechanism: the thin-layer optical interference phenomenon fundamentally produces the iridescence, while the layer structure is accompanied by various kinds of larger-size structural modifications that control the angular range of the reflection. Further, it is found that the granules containing melanin pigment exist in a localized manner to effectively enhance the contrast of the color caused by optical interference.

https://doi.org/10.1143/JPSJ.77.124801

KEYWORDS: iridescence, structural color, rock dove, thin-layer interference

References

1 D. L.Fox:Animal Biochromes and Structural Colors (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1976). Crossref, Google Scholar
2 H.Ghiradella: Appl. Opt. 30 (1991) 3492. Crossref, Google Scholar
3 M.Srinivasarao: Chem. Rev. 99 (1999) 1935. Crossref, Google Scholar
4 A. R.Parker:J. Opt. A 2 (2000) R15. Crossref, Google Scholar
5 P.Vukusic and J. R.Sambles:Nature 424 (2003) 852. Crossref, Google Scholar
6 Structural Colors in Biological Systems–Principles and Applications, ed. S.Kinoshita and S.Yoshioka (Osaka University Press, Osaka, 2005). Google Scholar
7 S.Kinoshita, S.Yoshioka, and J.Miyazaki:Rep. Prog. Phys. 71 (2008) 076401. Crossref, Google Scholar
8 W. J.Schmidt and H.Ruska: Z. Zellforsch. 57 (1962) 1. Crossref, Google Scholar
9 E.Rutschke: Z. Zellforsch. 73 (1966) 432. Crossref, Google Scholar
10 H.Durrer: inBiology of the Integument 2: Vertebrates, ed. J.Bereiter-Hahn, A. G.Matoltsy, and K. S.Richards (Springer, Berlin, 1986) p. 239. Crossref, Google Scholar
11 R. O.Prum, R. H.Torres, S.Williamson, and J.Dyck:Nature 396 (1998) 28. Crossref, Google Scholar
12 R. O.Prum, R.Torres, S.Williamson, and J.Dyck: Proc. R. Soc., Ser. B 266 (1999) 13. Crossref, Google Scholar
13 M. D.Shawkey, A. M.Estes, L. M.Siefferman, and G. E.Hill: Proc. R. Soc., Ser. B 270 (2003) 1455. Crossref, Google Scholar
14 D. J.Brink and N. G.van der Berg:J. Phys. D 37 (2004) 813. Crossref, Google Scholar
15 S. M.Doucet, M. D.Shawkey, M. K.Rathburn, H. L.Mays, Jr., and R.Montgomerie: Proc. R. Soc., Ser. B 271 (2004) 1663. Crossref, Google Scholar
16 S. M.Doucet, M. D.Shawkey, G. E.Hill, and R.Montgomerie: J. Exp. Biol. 209 (2006) 380. Crossref, Google Scholar
17 M. D.Shawkey and G. E.Hill: J. Exp. Biol. 209 (2006) 1245. Crossref, Google Scholar
18 G.Morimoto, N.Yamaguchi, and K.Ueda: J. Ethol. 24 (2006) 261. Crossref, Google Scholar
19 R. O.Prum: inBird Coloration, ed. G. E.Hill and K. J.McGraw (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2006) Vol. 1, p. 295. Google Scholar
20 J. P.Vigneron, J.-F.Colomer, M.Rassart, A. L.Ingram, and V.Lousse:Phys. Rev. E 73 (2006) 021914. Crossref, Google Scholar
21 C. H.Greenewalt, W.Brandt, and D. D.Friel: J. Opt. Soc. Am. 50 (1960) 1005. Crossref, Google Scholar
22 H.Durrer: Verhandl. Naturf. Ges. Basel 73 (1962) 204. Google Scholar
23 S.Yoshioka and S.Kinoshita: Forma 17 (2002) 169. Google Scholar
24 J.Zi, X.Yu, Y.Li, X.Hu, C.Xu, X.Wang, X.Liu, and R.Fu: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100 (2003) 12576. Crossref, Google Scholar
25 S.Kinoshita and S.Yoshioka: ChemPhysChem 6 (2005) 1442. Crossref, Google Scholar
26 S.Kinoshita, S.Yoshioka, and K.Kawagoe: Proc. R. Soc., Ser. B 269 (2002) 1417. Crossref, Google Scholar
27 T. D.Schultz and G. D.Bernard:Nature 337 (1989) 72. Crossref, Google Scholar
28 P.Vukusic, J. R.Sambles, and C. R.Lawrence:Nature 404 (2000) 457. Crossref, Google Scholar
29 S.Yoshioka and S.Kinoshita: Proc. R. Soc., Ser. B 271 (2004) 581. Crossref, Google Scholar
30 D. G.Stavenga, M. A.Giraldo, and B. J.Hoenders: Opt. Express 14 (2006) 4880. Crossref, Google Scholar
31 S.Yoshioka and S.Kinoshita: Proc. R. Soc., Ser. B 273 (2006) 129. Crossref, Google Scholar
32 S.Yoshioka and S.Kinoshita: Opt. Express 15 (2007) 2691. Crossref, Google Scholar
33 F.Liu, H.Yin, B.Dong, Y.Qing, L.Zhao, S.Meyer, X.Liu, J.Zi, and B.Chen:Phys. Rev. E 77 (2008) 012901. Crossref, Google Scholar
34 E.Merritt: J. Opt. Soc. Am. 11 (1925) 93. Crossref, Google Scholar
35 D.Osorio and A. D.Ham: J. Exp. Biol. 205 (2002) 2017. Crossref, Google Scholar
36 K. J.McGraw: Naturwissenschaften 91 (2004) 125. Crossref, Google Scholar
37 H.Yin, J.Shi, J.Sha, Y.Li, Y.Qin, B.Dong, S.Meyer, X.Liu, L.Zhao, and J.Zi:Phys. Rev. E 74 (2006) 051916. Crossref, Google Scholar
38 S.Yoshioka, E.Nakamura, and S.Kinoshita:J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 76 (2007) 013801. Link, Google Scholar
39 S.Yoshioka and S.Kinoshita: J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 23 (2006) 134. Crossref, Google Scholar
40 H.Davies: Proc. IEE, Part 4 101 (1954) 209. Google Scholar
41 I.Filiński:Phys. Status Solidi B 49 (1972) 577. Crossref, Google Scholar
42 J.Szczyrbowski and A.Czapla:Thin Solid Films 46 (1977) 127. Crossref, Google Scholar
43 B. J.Stagg and T. T.Charalampopoulos: Appl. Opt. 30 (1991) 4113. Crossref, Google Scholar
44 J. M.Eastman: inPhysics of Thin Films, ed. G.Hass and M. H.Francombe (Academic Press, New York, 1978) p. 167. Google Scholar
45 T. H.Goldsmith, J. S.Collins, and S.Light: Vision Res. 24 (1984) 1661. Crossref, Google Scholar
46 D.Burkhardt: J. Comp. Physiol. A 164 (1989) 787. Crossref, Google Scholar
47 I. S.Cuthill: inBird Coloration, ed. G. E.Hill and K. J.McGraw (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2006) Vol. 1, p. 1. Google Scholar
48 J. K.Bowmaker: Vision Res. 17 (1977) 1129. Crossref, Google Scholar
49 J. K.Bowmaker, L. A.Heath, S. E.Wilkie, and D. M.Hunt: Vision Res. 37 (1997) 2183. Crossref, Google Scholar
50 V. I.Govardovskii and L. V.Zueva: Vision Res. 17 (1977) 537. Crossref, Google Scholar
51 J. F.Wortel, R. J.Wubbels, and J. F. W.Nuboer: Vision Res. 24 (1984) 1107. Crossref, Google Scholar
52 A. G.Palacios and F. J.Varela: Vision Res. 32 (1992) 1947. Crossref, Google Scholar
53 M.Vorobyev, D.Osorio, A. T. D.Bennett, N. J.Marshall, and I. C.Cuthill: J. Comp. Physiol. A 183 (1998) 621. Crossref, Google Scholar

« Previous Article | Next Article »

200 total downloads

Structural Color of Rock Dove's Neck Feather

References

Article Tools