The tail of a 99-million-year-old dinosaur, including bones, soft tissue, and even feathers, has been found preserved in amber, according to a report published today in the journal Current Biology.
A micro-CT scan of the delicate feathers that cover the dinosaur tail. Image: Lida Xing.
While individual dinosaur-era feathers have been found in amber, and evidence for feathered dinosaurs is captured in fossil impressions, this is the first time that scientists are able to clearly associate well-preserved feathers with a dinosaur, and in turn gain a better understanding of the evolution and structure of dinosaur feathers.
We clearly need a new Jurassic Park movie featuring cute feathery dinosaurs.
A reconstruction of a small coelurosaur Credit: Chung-tat Cheung
Okay this is really really cool BUT IT IS CRIMINAL to leave out the funniest part of this story.
The paleontologist who “discovered” this sample didn’t dig it up, he and his team found it in an amber market where the amber it was preserved in had been shaped and was being sold as jewelry. This is both ridiculous and exciting though, because on one hand it’s a shame this sample was cut and shaped before anyone who knew what it was could get their hands on it, it also gives us an idea of how many other samples might be in that particular amber mine.
Also this amazing quote from Xing:
“I was not sure that (the trader) really understood how important this specimen was, but he did not raise the price.”
