Dinosaur tail found preserved in amber, what can we learn?

[Greg Bernhardt]

TL;DR

Late Jurassic Period dinosaur tail found preserved in amber.

How big of a discovery is this? Will we be able to do genetic testing that we haven't been able to before?

"This is the first time we've found dinosaur material preserved in amber," co-author Ryan McKellar, of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada, told the BBC News website.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38224564

 

[BillTre]

Can't do genetic testing because (as I understand it) amber tends to break down DNA rather than preserve it.
However, it is able to show structure in great detail.

Just recently there was a story about some amber preserving a lice in some dinosaur feathers.
This shows something new, lice had dinosaurs (or dinosaurs had lice, depending on your perspective).

Parasites and their host tend to co-evolve.
So it is possible, their descendants may still be together (lice and birds descended from dinosaurs).

 

[chemisttree]

Can't do genetic testing because (as I understand it) amber tends to break down DNA rather than preserve it.

DNA is actually very unstable relative to protein. The oldest sample successfully sequenced was ~700,000 years old.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smar...ino-tooth-provides-oldest-dna-data-180973117/