EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Feathers are made of lightweight material called keratin just like our fingernails. Muscles attached to the base of each one allow the bird to move it around.

Detailed explanation-2: -The cumulative weight of a bird’s feathers is often 2 to 3 times heavier than its skeleton! While both feathers and hair are made of a protein called keratin, they consist of different forms of keratin.

Detailed explanation-3: -Beta-keratin is found in just two existing groups of animals: reptiles and birds. It’s the stuff of claws, scales, beaks and feathers. It’s what makes these epidermal appendages strong, tough and, in the case of feathers, also flexible and elastic.

Detailed explanation-4: -Wings are much bigger than our arms, but being made mostly of feathers and hollow bones makes them very light. Their shape uses the wind to make flying easier. From side on, you can see that a bird’s wing is flat underneath and curved on top.

Detailed explanation-5: -Alpha () keratins are found in all vertebrates, while beta () keratins are found exclusively in reptiles and birds. We have studied the molecular evolution of these gene families in the genomes of 48 phylogenetically diverse birds and their expression in the scales and feathers of the chicken.