A new study suggests that the cassowary obtains its luxuriously glossy feathers through modifications to feather pattern. The researchers from the University of Texas suggest, with an ancestral bird losing its barbules and the cassowary developing a sharply widened central feather shaft. Researchers compared the reflectance ratios of 32 feathers from 17 palaeognath classes. They used atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to measure aspects of feather microstructure with light microscopy, noting differences between shiny and matte species. Researchers believe these kinds of observations are important to understand how color emerges and also inform how we think about lost species.