Microscopic pigment
structures and proteins that graced the feathers of a Cretaceous-age bird are
still present in its 130-million-year-old fossil, a new study finds.
The results, which
confirm the oldest evidence of the structural protein beta-keratin, show that
molecules can survive in their original state for hundreds of millions of years
without fossilizing, and that researchers can use modern techniques to identify
them, the researchers said.
The tiny and ancient
structures were found on Eoconfuciusornis, a crow-size early bird that lived in
what is now northern China during the early Cretaceous. Eoconfuciusornis is one
of the first birds known to have a keratinous beak and no teeth. (Not all avian
predecessors were toothless. For instance, Archaeopteryx, a
transitional animal between dinosaurs and birds, had sharp teeth.)
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