In Myitkyina, Myanmar, a dinosaur tail was recently discovered. According to a report in Current Biology, it is the first dinosaur tail ever to be discovered – and it still has feathers on it.

Dr. Lida Xing, a lecturer at the China University of Geosciences, Beijing, told National Geographic that he found the 99 million year old tail at an amber market. It was being sold as plant material, but it turned out to be the tail of a sparrow-sized dinosaur.

Xing know that the tail belonged to a dinosaur rather than an ancient bird, “because the vertebrae are not fused into a rod or pygostyle as in modern birds and their closest relatives.” Due to this, the tail is long and flexible, unlike that of a bird.

Mike Benton, professor at the University of Bristol and co-author of Xing’s study, added, “It’s amazing to see all the details of a dinosaur tail – the bones, flesh, skin, and feathers, – and to imagine how this little fellow got his tail caught in the resin, and then presumably died because he could not wrestle free.”

Amber has been made in Kachin, a Northeast Myanmar state, for 2,000 years. Since the 1990s, amber from Kachin has been the focus of many scientists who study insects due to the many ancient arthropods encased in the resin.

Xing and his team have also discovered amber-encased bird wings from the dinosaur-era as well as numerous other notable amber samples, all in Kachin.

Due to the nature of the jewelry industry, much of the amber is already cut by the time scientist can get their hands on it. There is a benefit to this, though. It allows for the examination of exposed ancient material, which in this case led to the discovery of iron traces. The iron’s presence means that in the future, more chemical information, such as that relating to pigmentation, could be found.

Since the conflict between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar government is finally coming to a close, Xing speculates that with scientists gaining more access to amber mines, there could be many more amazing discoveries.