First Dinosaur Tail Found in Amber (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/feathered-dinosaur-tail-amber-theropod-myanmar-burma-cretaceous/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=link_fb20161208news-feathereddino&utm_campaign=Content&sf45504119=1)
Article is protected and isn't letting me pull quotes. Quick and concise read though. Just amazing.
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.nationalgeographic.com%2Fcontent%2Fdam%2Fnews%2F2016%2F12%2F08%2Fdinosaur_tail%2F03_dinosaur_tail.adapt.676.1.jpg&hash=09b641dd5fbe208772a62dfbce5ec83c4d6d3f16)
Very cool! Thanks for posting that, Pasta Chick. It will be interesting to see how Creationists like Creation Ministries (http://creation.com/feathered-dinosaurs-not-feathers) will try to explain this away, assuming that they even acknowledge it.
If you search for related articles that run comment sections, they're all over it. Mostly the usual "Earth isn't that old"/"Can't trust carbon dating"/"LIES BY SATAN!!!1!" schtick. But a lot of focus on the ant, both as being "modern day" and thus fake, or that they perceive that as what should be a more important discovery because it's whole (and we apparently haven't found thousands of insects in amber).
I'm personally fascinated by how far our knowledge of dinosaurs has advanced in a relatively short time. When I was a kid I had books about dinosaurs having skin like lizards and trying to guess if they were camouflaged, brightly colored, or both like modern lizards. Feathers were an idea but it was presented as a fringe theory.
Neat. Sort of looks like a squirrel tail.
Strong resemblance to the feathers of land-dwelling flightless birds alive today, which makes perfect sense.
Ostrich:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbevfabriccrafts.us-dc1-edit.store.yahoo.net%2FI%2Fbevfabriccrafts_2054_199143123&hash=f7f4d81a9f45369562838ee6f51fac541b3c5b5f)
Emu:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.threefeathersemus.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F01%2FEMU-FEATHERS-2.jpg&hash=b39c87c8aa9c8c09cd0886102d085490e31e3f7e)
Rhea:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hopkinslivestock.com%2Fimages%2FRhea%2FRhea%2520Feathers%2FGrey_rhea_feathers.jpg&hash=eae41447118615c9f5c63ff9802ed67a8a6e227e)
Pretty damn awesome!
If anybody is interested, the paper is available for free. "A Feathered Dinosaur Tail with Primitive Plumage Trapped in Mid-Cretaceous Amber" | Cell (http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)31193-9)
Quote from: Recusant on December 09, 2016, 04:31:15 PM
If anybody is interested, the paper is available for free. "A Feathered Dinosaur Tail with Primitive Plumage Trapped in Mid-Cretaceous Amber" | Cell (http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)31193-9)
Awesome!!