Author: Valentina Rossi, Postdoctoral researcher, Palaeontology, University College Cork

A surprising discovery in the feathers of a fossil vulture from central Italy has revealed that volcanic deposits can preserve delicate tissue structures in unprecedented detail, offering new insights into the fossilisation process. In 1889 in the foothills of Mount Tuscolo, 25km south-east of Rome, farm workers discovered something extraordinary. While digging the ground for a new vineyard, they encountered a layer of bedrock with a strange void. This contained the skeleton of a large bird, including apparent imprints of its plumage on the surrounding rocks. The bizarre find prompted the landowner to call in the renowned Italian geologist Romolo…