Animals. the gene that makes some birds have red feathers and beaks may have existed with dinosaurs. According to a recently published study, the “red gene” have occurred in birds and turtles common reptilian ancestors 250 million years ago.
– Dinosaurs had gene. It is not impossible that some of the large herbivores gone around with a bright red body, says Staffan Andersson, Professor of Animal Ecology at the University of Gothenburg, one of the researchers who participated in the study.
the gene, which the researchers identified in the spring of zebra finches, explains that some birds may turn yellow carotenoids – dietary pigments – the red. The research team from Cambridge and Gothenburg have now found the same gene in a species of sea turtle with red spots on the skin. Something that suggests that the gene is considerably older than previously thought.
– All dinosaurs, not just those that evolved into modern birds, come from the same ancestor. It is possible that some dinosaurs used the gene for red color to perhaps send aggressive hotsignaler says Staffan Andersson.
Most likely herbivorous dinosaurs had the ability to turn red.
– It was so, those with a vegetarian diet that made itself most yellow carotenoids. What then can be converted into red pigment, says Staffan Andersson.
FACTS
the enzyme gene encoding, contribute to red oil droplets in the retina. It gives the animals an excellent color vision, which the researchers believe the gene’s main function. From the retina, the “red gene” is then sent to other tissues in the body to produce pigments such gives a bird red feathers.
Source: University of Gothenburg
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