Astaxanthin in the Cedar Waxwing
Abstract
The pigment on the secondary feathers of the cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is deposited as an amorphous layer upon a supporting medullary structure. The pigment was extracted with alkali and analyzed by chromatographic and spectrophotometric methods. The results indicate that the pigment is astacene (3,3',4,4'-tetraketo-β -carotene), the oxidation product of astaxanthin.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- October 1963
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.142.3588.47
- Bibcode:
- 1963Sci...142...47B