Fig. 2: Melanosomes and melanosome geometry.
From: Triassic diapsid shows early diversification of skin appendages in reptiles
a–c, Three-dimensionally preserved melanosomes in SMNS 97280. d–f, Three-dimensionally preserved melanosomes in SMNS 97300. g–i, Mouldic melanosomes in SMNS 97310. j, Morphospace of melanosomes in extant and fossil reptile skin, avian and pterosaur feathers, mammalian hairs and the integumentary appendages of Mirasaura. Scale bars, 1 µm (a,g,i), 2 µm (b–f), 5 µm (h). The complete melanosome dataset is presented in Supplementary Table 12 (available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.27083092). Data for Mirasaura were collected during this study, whereas the other melanosome data are derived from refs. 32,47 as collated averages, and from refs. 2,33,48,49 as raw data from individual melanosomes; Mirasaura (n = 100), Aves (n = 239), Pterosauria (n = 3046), Mammalia (n = 200), Reptilia (n = 353) and Theropoda (n = 60). Credits: Silhouettes were obtained from Phylopic (https://www.phylopic.org/). Microraptor zhaoianus, created by B. McFeeters and vectorized by T. Michael Keesey under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain licence; Patagioenas, created by F. Sayol under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain licence; Mus musculus, created by Mozillian under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain licence; Tupandactylus imperator, created by E. Boucher under a Public Domain Mark 1.0 licence; and Gehyra mutilata, created by G. Murali under a CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain licence.
