Amber preserves baby bird for 99 million years

BEIJING — An international team of scientists has identified the most complete hatchling specimen found so far encased in Burmese amber, which provides a detailed look at young birds that lived nearly 99 million years ago.

The 9-centimeter-long specimen included most of the bird’s skull and neck, a partial wing, a hind limb and soft tissue of the tail, according to Xing Lida from the China University of Geosciences, who is leading the research.

Xing said the proportions of body parts and form of the feathers indicated it was a young and highly advanced hatchling, adding that the unusually detailed feathers revealed unexpected diversity in primitive birds.

“Many people thought it was a lizard. But the scales, threadlike feathers and sharp claws on the feet were so noticeable that I thought they must belong to a bird,” said Chen Guang, owner of the specimen and curator of a museum in Yunnan province.

“There were no obvious signs of struggle. The overall posture of the bird resembled hunting, with its lifted body, open claws and beak and spread wings,” said Tseng Kuowei of the University of Taipei. “It was possibly engulfed by falling resin at the exact moment it was hunting.”

A research paper on the specimen, co-authored by a group of Chinese, Canadian and US scientists, was published by Gondwana Research this month.