An amber-encased specimen found in Myanmar has been identified as a baby dinosaur tail estimated to be 99-million years old, reports NPR.
It was reportedly discovered in 2015 by Chinese researcher Lida Xing who noticed it being sold at a market as a decorative item.
He and a team ended up analyzing the piece and describing the results in a recently published study; co-author Ryan McKellar of Canada has said that the artifact “...preserves a tail consisting of eight vertebrae from a juvenile; these are surrounded by feathers that are preserved in 3D and with microscopic detail.”
The paper also notes that, as a result of this clarity, they have been able to observe the “...spatial arrangement of follicles and feathers on the body, and micrometer-scale features of the plumage.”
The researchers ultimately concluded that the dinosaur was likely a small coelurosaur which became trapped in the sticky sap and eventually died.
