A fossil feather from the age of dinosaurs may explain why only some birds survived
Paleontologists have discovered a rare, well-preserved fossilized feather in Montana's Hell Creek Formation, dating back to the late Cretaceous period. Researchers believe this discovery could provide insights into the food web of the era and help explain why certain bird lineages survived the asteroid impact that caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs.
Why it matters
This find is significant for evolutionary biology, offering a rare glimpse into the transition period between dinosaurs and modern birds.
In 2016, David DeMar was doing field work in the rocky badlands of Montana in what's known as the Hell Creek Formation.
Weekly Dose of Wonder This fossil of a mammal biting a dinosaur captures a death battle's final moments "We all get down on our hands and knees," he recalls. "And I start crawling up the hill and I noticed this little dark, round object on the ground. It was kind of odd."
DeMar, the lab manager at the Burke Museum in Seattle, picked up the cherry-sized fossil.
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"I start looking at the surface of it," he says. "And then I rolled it over and I was like, 'You got to be kidding me.'"
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