| Even though there is a basic similarity with a flight feather, the peacock tail feather has an unusual barbule structure. |
| The scientists found that the outside layer of each barbule consisted of a two-dimensional crystal structure composed of melanin rods. |
| The animal residues found included possible blood residues, hair fragments, bone or antler fragments, and a feather barbule fragment. |
| Depending on how closely the rods were spaced and how many layers of rods were stacked up, the barbule could appear anything from yellow to green to blue to brown. |
| The jaw and lack of a chin barbule reveal the difference when look alike coalfish, a fellow member of the cod family, hunt for food in the same area. |
| Long spines are typically located on nodes of the mid-section of the barbule. |
