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 Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by RIJKE, A. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by RIJKE, A. M.

Journal of Experimental Biology 56,195-200 (1972)
Published by Company of Biologists 1972

The Water-Holding Mechanism of Sandgrouse Feathers

A. M. RIJKE ¹

¹ Department of Materials Science, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901

1. The barbules of the abdominal feathers of sandgrouse exhibit structural characteristics which are favourable for the uptake of large quantities of water. This feature greatly assists the male of the species in his efforts to bring water to the young.

2. The structural details of feather keratin, peculiar to many fibrous proteins, provide a straightforward explanation of the mechanical transformation of sandgrouse barbules, when wetted, in physico-chemical terms appropriate to macromolecular systems.

3. X-ray analysis of dry and wetted sandgrouse barbules qualitatively support the proposed mechanism of a reversible melting-recrystallization cycle for the barbule keratin.