Fossilized feathers discovered 136 years ago are still revealing new secrets.
Researchers found that the volcanic rock preserving the feather holds microscopic details preserved within the fossil.
The fossil vulture is preserved in ash deposits, which is extremely unusual.
A fossilized feature in volcanic rock.Photo: Edoardo Terranova
When analyzing the fossil vulture plumage, we found ourselves in uncharted territory.
These feathers are nothing like what we usually see in other fossils.
The feather belonged to a vulture that lived in Italy some 30,000 years ago.
The Doom of the Alban Hills—a digital painting depicting a possible scene just before the vulture’s carcass was buried by the pyroclastic current. © Dawid A. Iurino
Ergo: A feather fossil that is preserved down to the microscopic pigment structures in the fossils wing.
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