Dinosaur dropping yields remarkably preserved ancient feather
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Scientists in Montana discovered a 66-million-year-old feather preserved inside a fossilized dinosaur dropping, revealing details about bird evolution and survival after the asteroid impact.
David DeMar, Jr. initially found the coprolite, fossilized excrement, while collecting fish fossils in the Hell Creek Formation. He later collaborated with Jingmai O’Connor and colleagues to analyze the specimen using advanced scanning technologies. The feather, measuring 9.3 centimeters long, exhibited a modern structure with water-repellent qualities similar to those found on modern pelicans.
Researchers also found fragments of leg bones belonging to hesperornithiformes, flightless diving birds related to modern loons and grebes. These findings push back the known existence of advanced feathers by 10 million years. O’Connor’s team believes differences in feather types may explain why only neornithes, the ancestors of all birds today, survived the mass extinction event.
The bird that produced the feather possessed a mix of primitive and modern feathers, with less-insulating body feathers potentially contributing to its vulnerability after the asteroid impact caused a prolonged period of cold. The coprolite also contained scales from a gar, a type of fish, suggesting the bird had recently eaten one.
