99 Million-Year-Old Baby Bird Trapped in Amber Discovered in Myanmar

Baby bird discovered in 99-million-year-old amber with feathers, color intact

A remarkable discovery in Myanmar has unveiled a 99-million-year-old baby bird, impeccably preserved in amber, providing scientists with an extraordinary window into avian life during the Cretaceous period. Encased in fossilized tree resin, the specimen includes the head, neck, wings, tail, and feet of a hatchling, believed to be just days old when it became trapped in sticky conifer sap.

This fossil represents one of the most complete avian specimens ever found in amber, offering unparalleled insights into the anatomy and development of early birds. The hatchling belongs to the extinct group Enantiornithes, or "opposite birds," which coexisted with non-avian dinosaurs but did not survive the mass extinction event 66 million years ago.

The amber not only reveals the skeletal outline but also preserves exquisite details of the bird’s feathers, soft tissue, and claws—providing an unprecedented glimpse into a once-thriving group that vanished along with the non-avian dinosaurs.

This 100-Million-Year-Old Bird Trapped in Amber Is The Best We've Ever Seen

Amber containing hatchling Enantiornithes fossil. (Credit: Lida Xing et al.)

Enantiornithines exhibited both primitive and advanced features: they possessed teeth instead of beaks, claws on their wings, and a unique shoulder joint configuration differing from that of modern birds. The amber has exquisitely preserved the bird's feathers, skin, and even pigmentation patterns, allowing researchers to study its plumage in exceptional detail.

“This is the most complete and detailed view we have ever seen,” said Ryan McKellar from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, one of the researchers involved in the discovery. “Seeing something this complete is truly amazing.”

Researchers suspect that the hatchling fell into a pool of conifer sap shortly after hatching and became encased in the viscous resin. Over time, the resin hardened into amber; however, despite its pristine appearance, the bird’s flesh has likely degraded into carbon, meaning that any recoverable DNA is long gone.

The discovery not only deepens our understanding of Enantiornithes—birds that evolved alongside the ancestors of modern species—but also highlights intriguing questions about the amber preservation process. While resin hardens under the right levels of pressure and temperature to form a semi-fossilized substance known as copal before eventually becoming amber, scientists still debate the precise chemical transitions involved. For example, some researchers suggest that resin must be at least 2 million years old to be classified as amber, although this threshold is considered arbitrary.

Michael Le Page of New Scientist noted, “In appearance, opposite birds likely resembled modern birds, but they had a socket-and-ball joint in their shoulders, rather than the ball-and-socket joint of living birds.” He further explained that these ancient birds possessed claws on their wings and retained jaws with teeth instead of the beaks seen in modern species—a reminder of how different early avian life was from what we observe today.

Close-up of claw. Credit: Xing Lida

Full amber sample. Credit: Lida Xing,

Close-up of the wing. Credit: Ming Bai

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