10.5061/DRYAD.8NC444T
Stuart-Fox, Devi
University of Melbourne
Newton, Elizabeth
University of Melbourne
Mulder, Raoul A.
University of Melbourne
D'Alba, Liliana
Shawkey, Matthew D.
Ghent University
Igic, Branislav
Australian National University
D’Alba, Liliana
Ghent University
Data from: The microstructure of white feathers predicts their visible and
near-infrared reflectance properties
Dryad
dataset
2019
feather morphology
phylogenetic comparative
reflectance
infrared
2019-06-05T00:00:00Z
2019-06-05T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199129
6301472 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Research on the optical properties of animal integuments, including fur,
feather, skin and cuticle, has focussed almost exclusively on
animal-visible wavelengths within the narrow range of 300 - 700 nm. By
contrast, the near-infrared (NIR) portion of direct sunlight, spanning 700
- 2600 nm, has been largely ignored despite its potentially important
thermal consequences. We quantified variation in visible and NIR
reflectance and transmission for white body contour feathers of 50 bird
species, and examined how well they are predicted by feather macro- and
micro-structural morphology. Both visible and NIR reflectance of the
feathers varied substantially across species. Larger, thicker, and sparser
feathers that are characteristic of larger species, and feathers with
rounder barbs and more closely spaced barbules, had high average
reflectance, particularly within avian-visible wavelengths (300 - 700 nm).
Feathers with rounder barbs and more closely situated barbules also had
high average reflectance, particularly for NIR wavelengths. Barb roundness
and barbule density were the only predictors of NIR reflectance after
accounting for variation in visible reflectance and body size. Our results
highlight the potential for adaptive variation in NIR reflectance mediated
by feather structure, which may inform the design of functional materials
to control light and heat.
reflectance and transmission spec measurementsThis file is the raw
reflectance and transmission measurements taken of the feathers of the 50
species listed in the publication.data for comparative analysesmodels and
model outputs