While collecting samples in Myanmar last year, paleontologist Lida Xing discovered the first known dinosaur tail preserved in amber, and it has feathers!
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The piece of amber is about the size and shape of a dried apricot and captured inside it is a 1.4-inch appendage covered in white and chestnut brown colored feathers. The tail is around 99 million years old, and scientists believe that it belonged to a juvenile coelurosaur, which is part of a group of theropod dinosaurs.
“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,” Kristin Romey wrote on National Geographic.
More info: National Geographic (h/t)
