A feather in amber from the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey. American Museum novitates ; no. 3126

Abstract

"A feather 7.5 mm long is reported here in amber from the lower part of the Raritan Formation (Turonian, ca. 90-94 million years old [myo]), of central New Jersey. It is probably a semiplume, and is as yet unassigned to any group of birds. The specimen represents the second record of a feather in Cretaceous amber, and, like the first, is of interest because of the intricately preserved detail and the phylogenetic significance of Cretaceous birds. This is the oldest record of a bird from a terrestrial deposit in North America, and presumably the oldest record of a terrestrial bird. A brief review of fossil feathers is given, including those in amber"--P. [1].