Scientists discover feathered dinosaur tail in amber!
A feathery tail once belonging to a dinosaur has been discovered perfectly preserved…
The one-of-a-kind find is helping scientists to figure out more about the extinct creatures that roamed the Earth for more than 160 million years.
The amber specimen is 99 million years old and was discovered by a scientist on sale at an amber market in Myanmar in South East Asia.
The amber had been polished to be made into jewellery, as its seller had thought it was plant material trapped inside.
In fact, it turned out to be the feathered tail of a sparrow-sized dinosaur!
Experts determined that the feathery find belonged to dinosaur and not an ancient bird as the bones inside it were not fused together, like they are in today’s birds.
It’s likely that the ancient creature met a sticky end when his tail got caught in the resin that later formed the amber.
Although this spelled bad news for the little fellow, it’s good news for scientists, who have previously only been able to see dino feathers as fossils – not the 3D view that this amber specimen offers.
The tail, which is chestnut brown on top and white on its underside, is such a small sample, scientists haven’t yet been able to tell whether the dinky dino used his feathers for flying or gliding.
Roarsome!
What do you make to this feathery discovery? Let us know your thoughts by leaving us a comment in the section below!
Likes
More Like Prehistoric Animals
Dakotaraptor: Scientists unearth giant winged raptor!
LEAVE A COMMENT
THANK YOU
Your comment will be checked and approved shortly.
WELL DONE,
YOUR COMMENT
HAS BEEN ADDED!
COMMENTS
Wow these Dinosaurs are being studied more and more, I cant wait until they can make discoveries on their behavior so we can see how we really acted!
That is really cool
Wow
This has put scientest thinking!
AWESOME
Roarsome!!!
Cool dino find! :D
CUSTOMIZE YOUR AVATAR