--- description: Mummified bird wings from the age of dinosaurs suggest the animal's wings have not changed since that period 100 million years ago title: Dinosaurs: Mummified Wings Show How Birds Haven't Changed image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c6042585a5385bd/69889a2f656a3fa89dbcc1d3/dinosaur-bird-wing-amber.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # These Mummified Wings From 100 Million Years Ago Show How Little Birds Have Changed  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 30, 2016 4:01 PM CUT  Amber containing an impeccably preserved bird's wing tip, found in the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar and described in the journal "Nature Communications," published June 28, 2016. Amber containing an impeccably preserved bird's wing tip, found in the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar and described in the journal "Nature Communications," published June 28, 2016.Xinhua/Sipa USA  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 30, 2016 4:01 PM CUT Mummified bird wings from the age of [dinosaurs](http://time.com/4258240/t-rex-dinosaur-early-life/ "undefined") suggest that the animal’s wings have not changed substantially since that period 100 million years ago, according to new [research](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160628/ncomms12089/full/ncomms12089.html "undefined"). The [study](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160628/ncomms12089/full/ncomms12089.html "undefined"), published in the journal _Nature Communications_, evaluated what are believed to be the mummified wings of bird-dinosaurs called enantiornithes. Previous research has suggested that many dinosaurs may have had feathers, but the new study provides new detail invisible in fossils based on bones, feather and tissue that remains intact. “The biggest problem we face with feathers in amber is that we usually get small fragments or isolated feathers,” says study co-author Ryan McKellar a curator at Canada’s Royal Saskatchewan Museum, [according to ](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160405-dinosaurs-feathers-birds-museum-new-york-science/ "undefined")[_National Geographic_](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160405-dinosaurs-feathers-birds-museum-new-york-science/ "undefined")_._ “We don’t get something like this. It’s mind-blowingly cool.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4389639/dinosaurs-wings-birds-mummy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4389639/dinosaurs-wings-birds-mummy/"},"headline":"These Mummified Wings From 100 Million Years Ago Show How Little Birds Have Changed","datePublished":"2016-06-30T16:01:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:58:57.695Z","description":"'We don’t get something like this. It’s mind-blowingly cool'","url":"https://time.com/4389639/dinosaurs-wings-birds-mummy/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c6042585a5385bd/69889a2f656a3fa89dbcc1d3/dinosaur-bird-wing-amber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c6042585a5385bd/69889a2f656a3fa89dbcc1d3/dinosaur-bird-wing-amber.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CHINA-BEIJING-AMBER-PREHISTORIC BIRDS' WINGS-DISCOVERY (CN)","caption":"Amber containing an impeccably preserved bird's wing tip, found in the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar and described in the journal \"Nature Communications,\" published June 28, 2016.","creditText":"Xinhua/Sipa USA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4389639/dinosaurs-wings-birds-mummy/","name":"These Mummified Wings From 100 Million Years Ago Show How Little Birds Have Changed"}}]}] ```