QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by RIJKE, A. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by RIJKE, A. M.

Journal of Experimental Biology 52,469-479 (1970)
Published by Company of Biologists 1970

Wettability and Phylogenetic Development of Feather Structure in Water Birds

A. M. RIJKE ¹

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; Department of Materials Science, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va 22901

1. The water repellency of feathers is determined mainly, but not exclusively, by a structural parameter which can be expressed in terms of diameter and spacing of the barbs and barbules.

2. Effective waterproofing properties result from the optimal balance of structural parameter and resistance to water penetration.

3. Comparison of the structural parameters for water birds with the geological time interval of their earliest fossil record shows a phylogenetic tendency toward optimizing waterprooftng properties with the course of time.

4. Several behavioural patterns are discussed which may have evolved under the selective pressure of the quality of water repellency and resistance to water penetration.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. R. Stettenheim The Integumentary Morphology of Modern Birds--An Overview Integr. Comp. Biol., August 1, 2000; 40(4): 461 - 477. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]