Taphonomic experiments and analyses of fossil feathers reveal that while fossil keratins (formerly known as α-keratins) found in fossil feathers are likely artefacts of fossilization, corneous β-proteins (formerly β-keratins) can survive moderate thermal damage and persist over hundreds of millions of years to inform understanding of feather evolution.
- Tiffany S. Slater
- Nicholas P. Edwards
- Maria E. McNamara
