In 2016, David DeMar Jr., a researcher from the University of Washington’s Burke Museum, discovered a small reddish-brown rock in Montana's Hell Creek Formation. Initial scans revealed it was fossilized dinosaur dung containing preserved feathers, bones, and scales from an aquatic bird called hesperornithiform, dating back 66 million years. Advanced micro-CT scanning later uncovered what researchers describe as the finest feather specimen yet found from the age of dinosaurs, providing insights into ancient predator-prey relationships and the survival strategies of early birds during a catastrophic asteroid impact.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
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Story summary
In 2016, a researcher in Montana found a small reddish-brown rock while searching for fossils. Initially unremarkable, it was about half the size of a golf ball. However, closer examination revealed traces of fossilized dinosaur dung containing feathers, bones, and scales. Advanced scans conducted around 2026 showed that the specimen included what researchers describe as the finest feather from the age of dinosaurs. This 66-million-year-old coprolite, or fossilized feces, dates back to near the end of the Cretaceous Period and contains remains of hesperornithiform birds along with fish scales and leg bones. The discovery provides an intimate look into the diet of large dinosaurs like T. rex or Nanotyrannus.
Written for “Dinosaur Feather Discovery” on 2026-09-14,
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Sometimes, the most extraordinary discoveries are hiding in things that look utterly ordinary.
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that → hide → things
In 2016, a researcher working in Montana spotted a small, reddish-brown rock while searching for fossils.
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researcher → work → fossils
It was about half the size of a golf ball, hardly the kind of object that would seem destined for a major scientific discovery, states a study published by Science Daily.
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study → seem → Daily
But a closer look revealed a tiny fossil feather on its surface.
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look → reveal → surface
A decade later, advanced scans showed that the rock held a much bigger story: it was fossilized dinosaur dung containing remarkably preserved feathers, bones and scales, including what researchers describe as the finest feather specimen yet discovered from the age of dinosaurs.
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researchers → show → dinosaurs
The coprolite, or fossilized feces, dates to roughly 66 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous Period.
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coprolite → fossilize → Period
Inside, researchers found several feathers along with tiny fish scales and leg bones belonging to a hesperornithiform, an extinct group of aquatic birds.
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researchers → find → birds
The evidence suggests that a large dinosaur, potentially a T. rex or Nanotyrannus, had eaten the bird.
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dinosaur → suggest → bird
The discovery offers an unusually intimate glimpse into an ancient food chain.
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discovery → offer → chain
Instead of reconstructing predator and prey relationships from separate fossils, scientists can see evidence of one animal's final meal preserved in a single specimen.
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scientists → reconstruct → specimen
The feather that survived
David DeMar Jr., a researcher with the University of Washington's Burke Museum, discovered the unusual nodule while conducting fieldwork in northeastern Montana's Hell Creek Formation.
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Jr. → survive → Formation
Researchers later suspected that the rock might be a coprolite, but its real significance became clear only after it was examined using micro-CT scanning.
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it → suspect → scanning
The technology allowed scientists to look inside the specimen without breaking it apart.
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scientists → allow → it
The scans revealed a remarkable collection of remains — including feathers, bones and scales preserved in three dimensions.
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scans → reveal → dimensions
For lead author Jingmai O'Connor of Chicago's Field Museum, the discovery could help answer one of paleontology's biggest questions: why did some birds survive the asteroid impact that wiped out nearly all other dinosaurs?
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that → help → dinosaurs
Why did some birds survive?
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birds → survive → ?
When the asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago, most dinosaur lineages disappeared.
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lineages → strike → Earth
Among the birds, only the group known as Neornithes survived, eventually giving rise to every bird alive today.
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group → know → bird
Scientists have proposed several explanations, including the possibility that aquatic habitats helped some birds withstand the environmental chaos that followed the impact.
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that → propose → impact
But the newly studied hesperornithiform complicates that theory.
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hesperornithiform → study → theory
These birds were also closely associated with water, yet they went extinct.
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they → associate → water
Instead, researchers believe their feathers may offer an important clue.
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feathers → believe → clue
The fossil shows a mixture of relatively modern-looking, waterproof feathers and smaller, primitive body feathers.
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fossil → show → feathers
