'Beautiful' dinosaur tail found preserved in amber

Photography by R.C McKellar Royal Saskatchewan Museum

The tail of a feathered dinosaur has been found perfectly preserved in amber from Myanmar.

The one-of-a-kind discovery helps put flesh on the bones of these extinct creatures, opening a new window on the biology of a group that dominated Earth for more than 160 million years.

The 99-million-year-old amber had already been polished for jewellery and the seller had thought it was plant material. On closer inspection, however, it turned out to be the tail of a feathered dinosaur about the size of a sparrow.

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Myanmar travel guide

Now is the moment to visit this extraordinary land, scattered with gilded pagodas, where the traditional ways of Asia endure and areas that were previously off-limits are opening up.

Coverage includes: Yangon & Around, Southern Myanmar, Bagan & Central Myanmar, Temples of Bagan, Eastern Myanmar, Mandalay & Around, Northern Myanmar, Western Myanmar

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