A feather coming from the tail of a bird that lived about 100 million years ago was discovered in an amber by a team of scientists from China and Canada.
Unlike most of the tail feathers found in compression fossils, the amber has up to three-dimensional structure and contains more information.
The feather dates back to the beginning of the Cretaceous, an important period for bird evolution. During this period, certain types of dinosaurs evolved into birds.
The piece of amber containing the preserved feather area was discovered in the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar, a region rich in such fossils.
Xing Lida, a professor at the Chinese Geological Sciences University noted that amber may contain different types of soft tissues and offer valuable paleontological information.
Photo source: Ryan McKellar / Royal Saskatchewan Museum
