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Detecting pigments from colourful eggshells of extinct birds |
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| Authors: | Branislav Igic David R Greenwood David J Palmer Phillip Cassey Brian J Gill Tomas Grim Patricia L R Brennan Suzanne M Bassett Phil F Battley Mark E Hauber |
| Institution: | (1) School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;(2) Plant and Food Research, University of Auckland, Mt. Albert Campus, Auckland, New Zealand;(3) School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK;(4) Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand;(5) Department of Zoology and Laboratory of Ornithology, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic;(6) Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Peabody Museum, Yale University, New Haven, USA;(7) Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand;(8) Ecology Group, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand;(9) Department of Psychology, Hunter College, CUNY, New York, USA |
| Abstract: | The known chemical basis of diverse avian eggshell coloration is generated by the same two classes of tetrapyrrole pigments in most living birds. We aimed to extend the evolutionary scope of these patterns by detecting pigments from extinct birds’ eggs. In our samples biliverdin was successfully extracted from subfossil shell fragments of the blue-green egg-laying upland moa Megalapteryx didinus, while protoporphyrin was extracted from the beige eggs of two other extinct moa species. Our data on pigment detection from eggshells of other extant paleognath birds, together with published information on other modern lineages, confirm tetrapyrroles as ubiquitous and conserved pigments contributing to diverse eggshell colours throughout avian evolution. |
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