Mystery Feather in Amber

Mystery Feather in Amber
Indeterminate species
Cretaceous
Jukawang Valley, Myanmar
Most amber is too young to contain dinosaur feathers, but Burmite, the100-million-year-old amber found in the Jukawang Valley in northern Burma (Myanmar), is not. In one of the scientific stories of the year several years ago, presumed dinosaur feathers were found in 80-million-year-old Canadian amber. More than 40,000 Canadian amber specimens were examined from a museum collection, which yielded about a dozen amber nuggets containing feathers. The distinction between dinosaurs and early birds is somewhat blurred. Both coelurosaur and tyrannosaur dinosaurs are known to have been feathered, as evidenced by the outstanding fossils that have been found in Liaoning, China, dated from 110-130 million years old. Both the diversity and preservation of the possible dinosaur feathers preserved in Burmite exceed that of the Canadian amber. In the present specimen, a partial feather is seen in remarkable detail; the branching symmetric feathers are beautifully preserved with a central rachis. Being symmetrical, these are not flight feathers but rather feathers from the body or arm of a 100-million-year-old dinosaur or the body of a bird. Specimen measuring 18 x 13 millimeter; Riker Mount measuring 8 x 6in