Disassociated feathers in Burmese amber shed new light on mid-Cretaceous dinosaurs and avifauna

Xing, Lida; Cockx, Pierre; McKellar, Ryan C.

doi:10.1016/j.gr.2019.12.017

Cited by 11 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Because the inclusion size is severely limited by the generally small resin droplet size, isolated feathers are more commonly preserved in ambers than those attached to the animal remains (Perrichot et al 2008;McKellar et al 2011;Xing et al 2020). This results in the uncertainty regarding their taxonomic affinities.…”

Section: Taxonomic Affinity and The Distribution Of Rdfsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations of Mesozoic feathers: Insights from the morphogenesis of extant feather rachises

et al. 2020

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The rachises of extant feathers, composed of dense cortex and spongy internal medulla, are flexible and light, yet stiff enough to withstand the load required for flight, among other functions. Incomplete knowledge of early feathers prevents a full understanding of how cylindrical rachises have evolved. Bizarre feathers with unusually wide and flattened rachises, known as “rachis‐dominated feathers” (RDFs), have been observed in fossil nonavian and avian theropods. Newly discovered RDFs embedded in early Late Cretaceous Burmese ambers (about 99 million year ago) suggest the unusually wide and flattened rachises mainly consist of a dorsal cortex, lacking a medulla and a ventral cortex. Coupled with findings on extant feather morphogenesis, known fossil RDFs were categorized into three morphotypes based on their rachidial configurations. For each morphotype, potential developmental scenarios were depicted by referring to the rachidial development in chickens, and relative stiffness of each morphotype was estimated through functional simulations. The results suggest rachises of RDFs are developmentally equivalent to a variety of immature stages of cylindrical rachises. Similar rachidial morphotypes documented in extant penguins suggest that the RDFs are not unique to Mesozoic theropods, although they are likely to have evolved independently in extant penguins.

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Section: Taxonomic Affinity and The Distribution Of Rdfsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations of Mesozoic feathers: Insights from the morphogenesis of extant feather rachises

et al. 2020

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“…Amber is fossilised resin originating in ancient forests, with a high capacity for exceptional and three-dimensional preservation of biological remains, providing an outstanding source of information from past ecosystems 1 . Arthropods are the most common bioinclusions in amber 2 , 3 , although vertebrate remains are also often found, including those from Amphibia (e.g., 4 ) and crown group Reptilia (e.g., 5 ), such as body fossils and dinosaur feathers (e.g., 6 , 7 ). Dinosaur feathers and mammalian hair are keratin integumentary structures which constitute the different forms of vertebrate vestiture 8 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The term vestiture is used in this paper for the plumage and pelage of amniotes, thus excluding other dermal structures as scales or glands. Cretaceous amber is an important source of knowledge about feathers, in which they are particularly abundant, providing a panoply of palaeobiological evidence (e.g., 6 , 7 , 9 , 10 ). Recently, a new study has shown feather-like structures in pterosaurs, so these structures could appear in an archosaur ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs or independently in these two groups 11 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on its molecular composition, the preservation potential of feathers and hair is high 30 , although the keratin protein has a low fossilisation potential 10 , 31 . Dinosaur feathers from compression sites are well-known 30 , although the three-dimensional preservation in amber allows an exceptional visualisation of their anatomic structure 7 . Mammalian hair in Mesozoic mammaliaforms found in compression sites has been preserved as a halo of carbonised fur or tufts (e.g., 19 , 32 ), but usually the scale pattern is obscure or poorly preserved (e.g., 33 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mammalian hair in Mesozoic mammaliaforms found in compression sites has been preserved as a halo of carbonised fur or tufts (e.g., 19 , 32 ), but usually the scale pattern is obscure or poorly preserved (e.g., 33 ). Furthermore, the taphonomic conditions that facilitated the preservation of vestitures in amber are little-known, and they have been usually related to resin flows produced near the forest floor (or ‘litter amber’ sensu 34 ), requiring at least a contact of the individual before escaping 7 . In contrast, the taphonomic processes of insect preservation in amber have been widely studied 35 , 36 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cretaceous amniote integuments recorded through a taphonomic process unique to resins

Álvarez-Parra

Delclòs

Solórzano-Kraemer

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Fossil records of vertebrate integuments are relatively common in both rocks, as compressions, and amber, as inclusions. The integument remains, mainly the Mesozoic ones, are of great interest due to the panoply of palaeobiological information they can provide. We describe two Spanish Cretaceous amber pieces that are of taphonomic importance, one bearing avian dinosaur feather remains and the other, mammalian hair. The preserved feather remains originated from an avian dinosaur resting in contact with a stalactite-shaped resin emission for the time it took for the fresh resin to harden. The second piece shows three hair strands recorded on a surface of desiccation, with the characteristic scale pattern exceptionally well preserved and the strands aligned together, which can be considered the record of a tuft. These assemblages were recorded through a rare biostratinomic process we call “pull off vestiture” that is different from the typical resin entrapment and embedding of organisms and biological remains, and unique to resins. The peculiarity of this process is supported by actualistic observations using sticky traps in Madagascar. Lastly, we reinterpret some exceptional records from the literature in the light of that process, thus bringing new insight to the taphonomic and palaeoecological understanding of the circumstances of their origins.

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An unusually large bird wing in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Xing

McKellar

O’Connor

2020

Cretaceous Research

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Disassociated feathers in Burmese amber shed new light on mid-Cretaceous dinosaurs and avifauna

Cited by 11 publications

References 28 publications

Variations of Mesozoic feathers: Insights from the morphogenesis of extant feather rachises

Variations of Mesozoic feathers: Insights from the morphogenesis of extant feather rachises

Cretaceous amniote integuments recorded through a taphonomic process unique to resins

An unusually large bird wing in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

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