Saskatchewan researcher helps ID feathered dinosaur vertebrae encased in amber
REGINA — Researchers say they have found the 99-million-year-old tail of a theropod dinosaur preserved in amber and a Canadian is key to the discovery.
The specimen was purchased from a Myanmar amber market in 2015 by Lida Xing, a professor at the China University of Geosciences, who recognized its potential.
Ryan McKellar, curator at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, researched the find with his Chinese counterpart and says it’s unique. This is the first time dinosaur bone material and feathers have been found preserved together in the same piece of amber.
McKellar says feathers have been linked to dinosaurs before, but not this clearly.