Image courtesy of O'Connor et al.
Joel
Kontinen
A bird that
was eaten and partially excreted by a dinosaur 66 million years ago has left
behind the best-preserved feathers ever recovered by scientists from
dinosaur-age rock.
“This is
the best feather we’ve ever seen in a Mesozoic [252 million to 66 million years
ago] deposit,” says Jingmai O’Connor at the Field Museum in Chicago.
“[It’s] like a feather you could pick up off the ground.”
Further
analyses showed that the 9.3-millimetre-long primary feather had a
water-repellent structure, similar to that of modern pelicans, says O’Connor.
Both this and a second, smaller wing feather also had lightweight, spongy cores
surrounded by a harder outer layer. This combination makes them both light and
stiff, which is typical of modern feathers.
According to
evolution, millions of years have gone by. So where is the evolution?
“These are
the feathers that are responsible for keeping the body warm, right?” says
O’Connor. “So maybe these primitive feathers were good enough to keep them warm
during the greenhouse world of the Mesozoic, but not good enough to keep them
warm during this environmental catastrophe that was triggered by this impact
event.”
Source:
Christa Lesté-Lasserre 2026 Exquisite 66-million-year-old bird feather preserved in dinosaur dropping | New Scientist 10 September
Posts
