3月9日，国际著名杂志Science在线刊登了国外研究人员的最新研究成果“Reconstruction of Microraptor and the Evolution of Iridescent Plumage”，文章中，研究者发现小盗龙的羽毛含有可以发出荧光的黑色素体。
小盗龙这种恐龙的羽毛可能带有一种闪烁着荧光的黑色素体。在现代鸟类中，闪光的羽色是由排成阵列的“黑色素体”产生的，而黑色素体是含有黑色素这种黑暗色素的细胞器。Quanguo Li及其在中美两国的同事对来自小盗龙这种近鸟类恐龙的成为化石的黑色素体与那些在现代鸟类中发现的黑色素体进行了比较（近鸟类恐龙构成了两腿兽脚类恐龙中的一个亚组，它包括了鸟类世系）。
在羽毛化石中及在现代的闪光羽毛中的黑色素体是特别狭长的。它们还以片状、端对端的定向排列。文章的作者得出结论：这些羽毛表明，至少有某些小盗龙的羽毛是闪烁着荧光及黑色的。他们进一步提出，这些羽毛化石包括了一组用来吸引配偶的可能有装饰或发出信号用途的长尾羽毛。Li及其同事猜测，荧光色彩可能对这一方面有帮助，使得其尾部羽毛变得更为夺目。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1126/science.1213780
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Reconstruction of Microraptor and the Evolution of Iridescent Plumage
Quanguo Li1, Ke-Qin Gao2, Qingjin Meng1, Julia A. Clarke3, Matthew D. Shawkey4,*, Liliana D’Alba4, Rui Pei5, Mick Ellison5, Mark A. Norell5, Jakob Vinther3,6
Iridescent feather colors involved in displays of many extant birds are produced by nanoscale arrays of melanin-containing organelles (melanosomes). Data relevant to the evolution of these colors and the properties of melanosomes involved in their generation have been limited. A data set sampling variables of extant avian melanosomes reveals that those forming most iridescent arrays are distinctly narrow. Quantitative comparison of these data with melanosome imprints densely sampled from a previously unknown specimen of the Early Cretaceous feathered Microraptor predicts that its plumage was predominantly iridescent. The capacity for simple iridescent arrays is thus minimally inferred in paravian dinosaurs. This finding and estimation of Microraptor feathering consistent with an ornamental function for the tail suggest a centrality for signaling in early evolution of plumage and feather color.
