A Stunning Look at the First 3-D Prehistoric Bird Wings Ever Found by Scientists
The fossils were discovered in Myanmar amber鈥攁 form of mummification that's typical for insects.
On Tuesday, a coalition of researchers from China, Canada, and the United States describing an amazing scientific discovery: two individual bird wings preserved in amber from the mid-Cretaceous era, around 100 million years ago. It鈥檚 worth saying it twice: Scientists found bird wings鈥攚ith feathers mostly intact鈥攆rom 100 million years ago. That鈥檚 amazing!
The partial specimens are tiny, just a few centimeters long, and likely belong to a pair of enantiornithes from the same (unknown) species. The enantiornithes are a now-extinct taxonomic group of birds with teeth and clawed wings that date as far back as the early Cretaceous era, making them younger than Archaeopteryx but . Though they鈥檙e reasonably well-represented in the paleontological record, all of the discoveries to date have been traditional stone 鈥渃ompression鈥 fossils, which don鈥檛 preserve soft tissues and are almost flat. These mummified specimens allow us to see for the first time what these ancient animals looked like with full color and a 3-D profile.
But beyond the initial mind-blowing, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 so cool!鈥 reaction, what else can we learn? The type and structure of the feathers are otherwise very similar to modern birds, with configurations that suggest robust flight capability. The feathers in question are mostly brown, scientists say, with some mottling or banding and a light, almost white underwing color. The plumage resembles something similar to an Eastern Kingbird or skylark.
Based on the size and bony features of the wings, the birds were most likely juveniles鈥攂ut their feathers display none of the typical 鈥渇luffy鈥 or 鈥渄owny鈥 characteristics that most juvenile avians have today. This confirms that enantiornithes hatched with full adult plumage, which is a rare feature in modern bird species. (There a few exceptions, such as the .) This probably means that they were ready to run or fly very quickly after being born, and that in turn suggests that they required relatively little parental care.
This amazing find was made in Myanmar, where most harvested amber is for the Chinese market. With some more luck, scientists hope they can find other such exceptional fossils鈥攎aybe with the rest of the bird attached.