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Fossil feathers 羽毛化石 Not just for the birds 并非鸟类独有 A trove of fossils sheds light on the evolution of feathers 珍贵羽毛化石的发现能够更好地阐释羽毛的进化过程 THE fossil record is, famously, full of holes. 众所周知，化石记录总是漏洞百出。 One such lacuna has been the absence of well-preserved feathers from the Cretaceous-theperiod between 145m and 65m years ago that ended with the mass extinction that wipedout the dinosaurs. 一个漏洞就是由于人们无法找到白垩纪时期保存完好的羽毛，因而该时期羽毛化石的记录一直处于空白状态。白垩纪是距今1.45亿年到6500万年的一段时期，末期发生了导致恐龙消失的物种大灭绝。 Now, this gap has been partly filled. 如今，这段空白得到了部分填充。 In this week s Science, a team led by Ryan McKellar from the University of Alberta report thediscovery of eleven feathers preserved in amber from the latter part of the Cretaceous,about 70m-85m years ago. 本周，瑞安?麦凯乐领导的研究小组在《科学》杂志上发表报告称，他们发现了11种白垩纪后期封存在琥珀里的羽毛。 | 
