There are times – good times – a biologist may experience the overwhelming urge to use an obscenity. This is one such time. That’s because scientists announced yesterday in the journal Current Biology that they have found an entire chunk of a feathered dinosaur tail trapped in amber – feathers, flesh, bone and all. It’s as if Mother Nature handed us an early Christmas present and said, “You’re welcome, science.”
THANK YOU MOTHER NATURE.
Here are some glorious images of this brain-exploding find.


Various bits of flotsam and whole insects are also trapped inside, including at least two ants. Credit: Xing et al. 2016