Exquisitely preserved feathers, the first ever found in fossilized dinosaur poop, are providing a peek into how some ancient birds lived — and possibly went extinct.
Dense bristles suggest some of the feathers could repel water, possibly as well as those of modern pelicans, researchers report September 10 in Current Biology . And their central shafts are filled with air pockets, a trait that in modern birds keeps plumage lightweight yet stiff enough for flight. “That’s something we’re seeing for the first time in the Age of the Dinosaurs,” says vertebrate paleontologist Jingmai O’Connor of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
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