A fossil preen gland in a 48-million-year-old bird, showing the fossil gland in detail as it was found before sampling and after preparation. The creamy white material is fossilised preen gland oil/wax. Right hand side: Modern bird with the preen gland prepared out from a modern Sickle-Billed Vanga (artificially coloured to highlight the preen gland).
Researchers have analysed a well-preserved preening gland in a 48-million-year-old bird fossil and discovered original oil and wax molecules within it. The fossil is from the famous Messel locality in Germany, well known to preserve birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects and leaves with exceptional details. The locality is famous for its preservation of melanin in most of the animals found here and even the structural iridescence of beetle and moth fossils. Finding the intact preening glands and the wax molecules within them is a new milestone in understanding fossil preservation. Birds use their preening gland in maintaining their feathers. By secreting an oily substance onto their bill they can preen their feathers, which can water proof their feathers, maintain the health and durability of the feather and even protect it from microbial degradation. Dr Jakob Vinther , a palaeobiologist at the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences , has been working for a long time with researchers at the Senckenberg Natural History museum on the preservation of melanin in birds and mammals from the Messel locality.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
