Advertisement
U.S. markets closed
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • Dow 30

    39,807.40
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • Russell 2000

    2,124.55
    +10.20 (+0.48%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • Gold

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Silver

    25.10
    +0.18 (+0.74%)
     
  • EUR/USD

    1.0800
    +0.0007 (+0.06%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2642
    +0.0020 (+0.16%)
     
  • USD/JPY

    151.2220
    -0.1500 (-0.10%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    70,477.45
    -433.15 (-0.61%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Nikkei 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     

Dinosaur tail found in amber at market in Myanmar

Source: Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM/ R.C. McKellar)

Scientists browsing a market in Southeast Asia have uncovered a highly unusual 99-million-year-old feathered dinosaur tail encased in amber.

It is rare to find a feather attached to a dinosaur's body in an amber sample, and it supports the position among researchers that many dinosaurs had feathers rather than scales, like the birds that have descended from them.

The discovery was revealed Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

The study's lead author, Lida Xing of the China University of Geosciences in Beijing, found the unusual specimen at an amber market in Myanmar in 2015, and urged the Dexu Institute of Palaeontology to buy the piece after recognizing its potential scientific importance.

The team used a CT scan to peer into the fossil, finding that the long and flexible nature of the tail meant it had to belong to a dinosaur, not a bird.

The tail belonged to a dinosaur called Coelurosaur — a dinosaur about the size of a small bird, from the same theropod group of dinosaurs as Tyrannosaurus rex. Despite the feathers, the dinosaur was not able to fly, providing more evidence for the contention that plumage originally began popping up on animals for reasons other than flight — such as for camouflage or attracting mates.

Amber is fossilized tree sap, and it acts as a kind of resin that can preserve organic matter that would otherwise be lost.

"Amber pieces preserve tiny snapshots of ancient ecosystems, but they record microscopic details, three-dimensional arrangements, and labile tissues that are difficult to study in other settings," one of the study's authors, Ryan McKellar of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada, said in a news release. "This is a new source of information that is worth researching with intensity and protecting as a fossil resource."

Advertisement