Inferred taphonomic pathways have varied, including encapsulation in resin while still alive (e.g., DIP-V-15100 5), or partial encapsulation followed by significant weathering or scavenging (e.g., HPG-15-1 8 and DIP-V-15102 9). Burmese amber specimens have exhibited a range of preservational qualities, extending from nearly pristine bone that retains its osteon microstructures (e.g., DIP-V-15100 5, DIP-V-15102 9), to material that has been dissolved and replaced by clay minerals (e.g., DIP-V-15103 6). To date, amber inclusions of enantiornithines with both skeletal material and feathers have been recovered for a pair of juvenile wing fragments 5 a partial hatchling 8 and the compacted skeleton of a juvenile 9. Research on Burmese amber has united feathers in amber with skeletal material for the first time. Burmese enantiornithine remains preserved in amber contribute an unprecedented level of detail to our understanding of their plumage and soft tissues. The amber deposit has been particularly informative for the integument of Enantiornithes 5, 8, 9, the dominant clade of Cretaceous birds, supplementing our understanding of integumentary features otherwise only preserved in two-dimensional fossils from lacustrine sediments (e.g. Ultimately, this connection may allow researchers to observe how filamentous dinosaur ‘protofeathers’ developed-testing theories using evolutionary holdovers in modern birds.īurmese amber has been studied extensively for its arthropod and botanical inclusions 1, 2, but has only recently been recognized as a valuable source of diverse vertebrate material living during the beginning of the Cenomanian (98.8 ± 0.6 Ma) 3– 7. The new specimen preserves contour feathers on the pedal phalanges together with enigmatic scutellae scale filament (SSF) feathers on the foot, providing direct analogies to the plumage patterns observed in modern birds, and those cultivated through developmental manipulation studies. These body parts were likely dismembered, entering the resin due to predatory or scavenging behaviour by a larger animal.

Here we describe a remarkably well-preserved foot, accompanied by part of the wing plumage.

These specimens have improved our knowledge based on compression fossils in Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, adding details of three-dimensional structure and soft tissues that are rarely preserved elsewhere. Over the last three years, Burmese amber (~99 Ma, from Myanmar) has provided a series of immature enantiornithine skeletal remains preserved in varying developmental stages and degrees of completeness.

Torn wings dark ro