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Molecular evidence of keratin and melanosomes in feathers of the Early Cretaceous bird Eoconfuciusornis

Overview of attention for article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, November 2016
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (95th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
32 news outlets
blogs
5 blogs
twitter
48 X users
facebook
12 Facebook pages
wikipedia
4 Wikipedia pages

Citations

dimensions_citation
56 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
65 Mendeley
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Title
Molecular evidence of keratin and melanosomes in feathers of the Early Cretaceous bird Eoconfuciusornis
Published in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, November 2016
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1617168113
Pubmed ID
Authors

Yanhong Pan, Wenxia Zheng, Alison E Moyer, Jingmai K O'Connor, Min Wang, Xiaoting Zheng, Xiaoli Wang, Elena R Schroeter, Zhonghe Zhou, Mary H Schweitzer

Abstract

Microbodies associated with feathers of both nonavian dinosaurs and early birds were first identified as bacteria but have been reinterpreted as melanosomes. Whereas melanosomes in modern feathers are always surrounded by and embedded in keratin, melanosomes embedded in keratin in fossils has not been demonstrated. Here we provide multiple independent molecular analyses of both microbodies and the associated matrix recovered from feathers of a new specimen of the basal bird Eoconfuciusornis from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of China. Our work represents the oldest ultrastructural and immunological recognition of avian beta-keratin from an Early Cretaceous (∼130-Ma) bird. We apply immunogold to identify protein epitopes at high resolution, by localizing antibody-antigen complexes to specific fossil ultrastructures. Retention of original keratinous proteins in the matrix surrounding electron-opaque microbodies supports their assignment as melanosomes and adds to the criteria employable to distinguish melanosomes from microbial bodies. Our work sheds new light on molecular preservation within normally labile tissues preserved in fossils.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 48 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 65 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Japan 1 2%
United Kingdom 1 2%
Canada 1 2%
Unknown 62 95%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 13 20%
Researcher 8 12%
Student > Master 8 12%
Student > Bachelor 6 9%
Student > Doctoral Student 3 5%
Other 10 15%
Unknown 17 26%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Earth and Planetary Sciences 20 31%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 12 18%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 4 6%
Medicine and Dentistry 2 3%
Materials Science 2 3%
Other 6 9%
Unknown 19 29%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 315. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 06 January 2023.
All research outputs
#110,126
of 25,805,386 outputs
Outputs from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#2,375
of 103,778 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#2,315
of 417,831 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#40
of 921 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,805,386 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 103,778 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 39.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 417,831 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 921 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.