About the Cover
Cover: iridescent colours in birds are produced when light is scattered from alternating layers of keratin, melanin and air within feather barbules. A thin-film optical model of satin bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) feathers, based on the thickness of the keratin layer and its two associated interfaces, generates reflectance spectra that closely match measured spectra (S. M. Doucet, M. D. Shawkey, G. E. Hill and R. Montgomerie, pp. 380−390). Moreover, individual variation in barbule nanostructure predicts measured variation in hue and chroma, indicating a nanostructural basis for individual variation in iridescent plumage colour. Photograph by Daniel J. Mennill.
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006
