Baby Bird Discovered in 99-Million-Year-Old Amber
Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2017 1:05 pm
Baby bird discovered in 99-million-year-old amber with feathers, colour intact
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-09/b ... er/8603798
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-09/b ... er/8603798
Scientists in Myanmar have discovered what they describe as the "most complete" fossil of a baby bird ever recovered from the Cretaceous period, trapped in 99-million-year-old amber.
The hatchling, complete with feathers, claws, skin and soft tissue around the eyelid and external opening of the ear, is believed to be a species from a group of birds called enantiornitheans that went extinct about 65 million years ago.
Almost all enantiornitheans had teeth, and each finger within the wing contained a claw.
In a paper published in Gondwana Research the scientists said the find offered new insight into "the most species-rich clade of pre-modern birds" to have ever existed.