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IPFS News Link • Biology, Botany and Zoology

Hummingbird-sized dinosaur skull preserved in 99-million-year-old amber

• https://newatlas.com, By David Szondy

Called Oculudentavis khaungraae, it was the size of a hummingbird and shared reptilian and bird-like features.

Finding ancient creatures in bits of amber is common and even a bit old hat, but such finds have almost always been insects or other arthropods. What's really rare is finding a vertebrate animal preserved in such a fashion – to say nothing of a dinosaur.

Discovered and studied by an international team led by Lars Schmitz, associate professor of biology at the W.M. Keck Science Department at Scripps College, the fully-grown skull came from a dinosaur that was about the size of a modern bee hummingbird, which is the smallest living bird, weighing under two grams (0.07 oz) and reaching a length of 6.1 cm (2.4 in).

"Amber preservation of vertebrates is rare, and this provides us a window into the world of dinosaurs at the lowest end of the body-size spectrum," says Schmitz. "Its unique anatomical features point to one of the smallest and most ancient birds ever found."


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