Prehistoric Bird Sported Feather 'Arrows' at Its Butt

Remains of a Dinosaur Age bird with two tail feathers shaped like arrows have been found in Northeast Brazil.

The hummingbird-sized specimen, described in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications, reveals that early feathers were not just for flying, since the arrow-shaped feathers were not at all aerodynamically optimized.

Here, lead author Ismar de Souza Carvalho of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro describes the discovery:

As de Souza Carvalho mentions, his team found the “very impressive fossil” showing “a small flying bird with an exceptional preservation.”

They believe that the bird was a juvenile when it died of unknown causes.

The near-perfect fossil dates to the Early Cretaceous over 100 million years ago. It provides an unprecedented look at the tail feathers. Usually, these sorts of fragile appendages don’t preserve well, but they are in all of their 3D eye-catching drama in this fossil.

The scientists even found traces of color and pattern, suggesting that the bird would have been quite striking during its lifetime.

Since the feathers weren’t built for flying, the researchers write that they were likely “associated with sexual display, species recognition or visual communication” or all three.

Read more at Discovery News