First feathered dinosaur tail found preserved in amber

 

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!

 

First feathered dinosaur tail found preserved in amber

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

LEAVE A COMMENT

THANK YOU

Your comment will be checked and approved shortly.

WELL DONE,
YOUR COMMENT
HAS BEEN ADDED!

COMMENTS

  • I LOVE ANIMALS 2010

    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!

  • EveNugget

    That is really cool

  • Devin

    Wow

  • That Nerd

    This has put scientest thinking!

  • Shiner

    AWESOME

  • Logan

    Roarsome!!!

  • Sarah

    Cool dino find! :D

ADVERTISEMENT
ANZ subs takeover March 2020 MPU

More Like Prehistoric Animals

Prehistoric Animals

‘Rainbow dinosaur’ fossil discovered!

Check out this colourful, feathered fossil…
General History

Yuval Noah Harari Interview!

We chat to this famous thinker about ancient humans, tech, money, stories and more…
Prehistoric Animals

NG KiDS chats to Dinosaur Expert Jack Horner!

We get the dino lowdown from Jurassic World’s lead palaeontologist…
Prehistoric Animals

Dinosaur Interview with Steve Brusatte!

We catch up with dino-expert Steve Brusatte to learn about our prehistoric world!