Rare Feathered Dinosaur Tail Trapped in Amber
Scientists uncovered a remarkable fossil: a feathered dinosaur tail preserved in amber.
This discovery was made in Myanmar, where the amber, estimated to be 99 million years old, was found at a market. The specimen was initially mistaken for plant material but upon closer examination by Lida Xing from the China University of Geosciences, it was identified as part of a dinosaur.
Some 99 million years ago, a juvenile dinosaur got its feathery tail stuck in tree resin, a death trap for the small creature. But its misfortune is now giving scientists unique insight into feathered dinosaurs that prospered during the Cretaceous Period.Researchers said on a chunk of amber - fossilized resin - spotted by a Chinese scientist in a market in Myitkyina, Myanmar, last year contained 1.4 inches (36 mm) of the tail of the dinosaur, complete with bones, flesh, skin and feathers. The dinosaur itself was no more than 6 inches (15 cm) long, about the size of a sparrow.
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The dinosaur's plumage is preserved in exquisite detail |
"This is the first of its kind," said paleontologist Ryan McKellar of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada, one of the researchers involved in the study published in the journal Current Biology. "I'm blown away."
Discovery Details: The tail was found to include eight vertebrae from what is believed to be a young coelurosaur, a group of theropod dinosaurs closely related to birds. This tail was not from an ancient bird but from a non-avian dinosaur, as evidenced by its flexible structure and the unfused vertebrae.
Feather Preservation: The feathers on the tail were preserved in three-dimensional detail, showing both the structure and microscopic features. This find provides direct evidence that many dinosaurs, including those not directly ancestral to modern birds, had feathers.
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| A Cretaceous-era ant and plant debris were also trapped in the resin. Photograph by R.C. McKellar, Royal Saskatchewan Museum. |
The scientists suspect the tail belonged to a type of two-legged, bird-like dinosaur called a maniraptoran, one of several groups of dinosaurs that possessed feathers. Birds, which first appeared about 150 million years ago during the Jurassic Period, evolved from small, feathered dinosaurs.
The researchers used sophisticated scanning and microscopic observations to study the tail. They determined it boasted a chestnut-brown upper surface, with a pale or white underside, a pattern known as countershading."We're seeing feathers still attached to the tail, and we can see how they attach, the shapes that they have down to the micrometer scale, and things like pigment patterns within the feathers," McKellar said.
The tail consisted of eight vertebrae, soft tissue and feathers exquisitely preserved in three dimensions. McKellar said getting its tail stuck in resin "would have been a game-ender for that particular animal. They don't drop their tails like some lizards."
The tail's anatomy enabled the scientists to rule out that it belonged to a bird because it was long and flexible and lacked a pygostyle, fused vertebrae that in birds support the tail feathers.
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| A chunk of amber. Courtesy R.C. McKellar/Royal Saskatchewan Museum |
The discovery also sheds light on the evolution of feathers. The ones trapped in the amber were more primitive than those of birds, lacking much of the central shaft seen in bird feathers.
Significance: This discovery supports the theory that feathers were not exclusive to bird ancestors but were more widespread among dinosaurs, potentially serving various functions beyond flight, like insulation or display.
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The feathered tail was preserved in amber from north-eastern Myanmar |
Amber has long been a boon to paleontologists. Numerous creatures have been found entombed in amber, including insects, lizards, amphibians, mammals and birds, as well as plants including flowers.