Dinosaur Tail

'Beautiful' dinosaur tail found perfectly preserved in amber from Myanmar.

16:09 14 December 2016

The tail of a feathered dinosaur has been found perfectly preserved in Amber from Myanmar. The stunning discovery helps put flesh on the bones of these extinct creatures that dominated Earth for more than 160 million years.

 

The study, which was published in the journal Current Biology, revealed that Lida Xing from the China University of Geosciences in Beijing discovered the fossil at an amber market in Myitkina, Myanmar. The 99-year-old amber has already been polished for jewellery and the seller had thought it was plant material. On closer examination, it was found that the tail’s anatomy belonged to a feathered dinosaur and not an ancient bird.

 

Co-author Ryan McKellar, of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada, explained: "We can be sure of the source because the vertebrae are not fused into a rod or pygostyle as in modern birds and their closest relatives,"

 

"Instead, the tail is long and flexible, with keels of feathers running down each side."

 

Co-author Prof Mike Benton, from the University of Bristol, added: "It's amazing to see all the details of a dinosaur tail - the bones, flesh, skin, and feathers - and to imagine how this little fellow got his tail caught in the resin, and then presumably died because he could not wrestle free."