An international team of researchers announced on Thursday they have found the tail of a juvenile preserved in amber — with its still attached. Although some preserved feathers believed to be from dinosaurs have been found before, this is the first time they have been conclusively connected to the animal that grew them. File photo of a reconstructed coelurosaur skeleton. Lead researcher Lida Xing of the found the amber, originally from amber mines in 's , in a Myanmar market, where it had been mistaken for a preserved plant. She encouraged the Dexu Institute of Palaeontology to purchase the sample, after which its bone structure was carefully studied to confirm that it was not a bird but the tail of a , likely a juvenile; probably a , which is related to the . "We can be sure of the source because the are not fused into a rod or as in modern birds and their closest relatives. Instead, the tail is long and flexible, with keels of feathers running down each side", said Ryan McKellar of 's .
An international team of researchers announced on Thursday they have found the tail of a juvenile preserved in amber — with its still attached. Although some preserved feathers that may have been from dinosaurs have been found before, this is the first time they have been conclusively connected to the animal that grew them. File photo of a reconstructed coelurosaur skeleton. Lead researcher Lida Xing of the found the amber, originally from amber mines in 's , in a Myanmar market, where it had been mistaken for a preserved plant. She encouraged the Dexu Institute of Palaeontology to purchase the sample, after which its bone structure was carefully studied to confirm that it was not a bird but the tail of a , likely a juvenile; probably a , which is related to the . "We can be sure of the source because the are not fused into a rod or as in modern birds and their closest relatives. Instead, the tail is long and flexible, with keels of feathers running down each side", said Ryan McKellar of 's .
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