Skip to main content

Dinosaur tail feathers preserved in amber in Myanmar






A unique discovery of dinosaur tail feathers preserved in amber have been found in Myanmar. It’s not an ancient bird, but a small feathered dinosaur.

Author of the academic paper in the journal, Current Biology, Lida Xing from the China University of Geosciences in Beijing, discovered the fossil at an amber market in Myitkina, Myanmar. The 99-million-year-old amber fossil had already been polished to sell as jewellery, and the seller thought it was plant material in the amber.



Inspecting it closely, Xing found it to be a tail feather of a dinosaur the size of a sparrow. The tail with the feathers still attached had chestnut brown feathers on top and white feathers on its underside.

Xing tracked down the amber miner, and was able to locate the exact location.

Co-author of the academic paper, Dr Ryan McKellar of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada said it’s the first time dinosaur material has been found preserved in amber. He said it is not an ancient bird, but a feathered dinosaur. ‘We can be sure of the source because the vertebrae [bones that form the spine] are not fused into a rod or pygostyle as in modern birds and the closest relatives. Instead, the tail in long and flexible, with keels of feathers running down each side.’

McKellar said there are signs that the dinosaur still contained fluids when it was preserved into the tree resin that eventually formed the amber. The dinosaur may have become trapped in the sticky resin while it was alive.

Another co-author, Professor Mike Benton from the University of Bristol in England, said that the tail was very detailed with the bones, flesh, skin, and feathers. The tail was exposed at the surface of the amber and shows traces of ferrous iron, a relic of the blood that was once in the fossil.

The fossil also shows how the feathers were arranged on these small dinosaurs. The feathers lack the well-developed central shaft (called a rachis). Their structure suggests that the two finest tiers of branching in modern feathers (known as barbs and barbules) arose before the rachis formed.

The amber fossil of the dinosaur was found in Kachin State, northeastern Myanmar, an area that has been producing amber for 2,000 years. Due to the large number of insects, scientists who study ancient arthropods, visit the area. So other amber fossil dinosaurs might have also been in the area and missed or already sold as jewellery.


http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38224564



MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...
1 comment
Read more