Researchers find birds' wings encased in amber

Nearly 100 million years ago, two baby birds were trapped in the sticky sap of a tropical forest tree. Now, their wings, entombed in amber, are giving scientists fresh insights into the evolution of birds. The tiny specimens were found in the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar and described in the journal Nature Communications.

This is the first time wings have been found encased in amber. Individual feathers or fragments of feathers are found frequently.

The samples contain two impeccably preserved wing tips with all features intact, including soft tissue, from two birds that scientists believe were hatched nearly 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, about 45 million years after the first birds, or avian dinosaurs, evolved.