Montana fossil discovery reveals ancient bird feather in dinosaur dung

Researchers have discovered a remarkably well-preserved 3D fossilized feather inside a coprolite, or fossilized dung, found in Montana’s Hell Creek Formation. The discovery, detailed in the journal Current Biology, provides a rare glimpse into the late Cretaceous period approximately 66 million years ago.

Micro-CT scanning of the specimen revealed the feather belonged to ahesperornithiform, an ancient flightless bird that hunted fish. The presence of the feather within the digestive remains of an apex predator offers new insights into the prehistoric food web and may help scientists understand why certain avian lineages survived the mass extinction event caused by an asteroid impact while others perished.