Fossil feathers are usually preserved as carbonaceous films and impressions in lacustrine and marine sediments, or embedded in amber, but rarely mineralized. In a new study, paleontologists examined mineralized plumage of a 30,000-year-old griffon vulture preserved in ash-rich volcanic sediments of the Colli Albani volcanic complex, Rome, Italy. The bird’s feathers were preserved in three dimensions, with preservation of tissue ultrastructures such...
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