
A Feathered Dinosaur Tail with Primitive Plumage Trapped in Mid-Cretaceous Amber - bowenfreddy
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)31193-9
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bowenfreddy
Hi-Res image:
[http://www.cell.com/cms/attachment/2075122016/2069586830/gr1...](http://www.cell.com/cms/attachment/2075122016/2069586830/gr1_lrg.jpg)

"The tail ... is visible to the naked eye as an elongate and gently curved
structure (length = 36.73 mm). A dense covering of feathers protrudes from the
tail, obscuring underlying details, so Synchrotron Radiation (SR) X-ray phase-
contrast μCT scanning was employed to examine concealed osteological and soft
tissue features (Figure 1). Soft tissues—presumably muscles, ligaments, and
skin—are visible sporadically through the plumage, clinging to the bones in a
manner suggestive of the desiccation common to other vertebrate remains in
amber"

"The close contact between the skin and surrounding amber, paired with the
mummified external appearance of the skin where it has shriveled across the
surface of the vertebrae, suggest one of two scenarios. Either the tail bearer
was dead and partially desiccated before encapsulation, or else it rapidly
dried due to resin interactions"

