Alexander D. Clark published X-ray fluorescence (XRF) data from the fossil specimen STM11-4 on figshare in 2026. The dataset is associated with the description of Plumadraco bankoorum, a new enantiornithine bird species with exceptionally long ornamental tail feathers. The 13.8 KB XLSX file likely contains elemental composition data to study the preservation and structure of these Cretaceous feathers.
Use Cases
- Analyzing feather preservation and taphonomy based on elemental composition data.
- Comparing structural variation in rachis-dominated feathers based on associated XRF measurements.
- Investigating potential links between feather chemistry and proposed courtship display functions mentioned in the description.
Strengths
- Data is associated with a formally described new species, Plumadraco bankoorum.
- File is small (13.8 KB) and in a widely accessible XLSX format.
- Published under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license.
Limitations
- Dataset scale is tiny (13.8 KB), indicating very limited scope.
- Row count and specific column definitions are unknown, requiring manual inspection after download.
- Description metadata focuses on the biological context; data documentation is limited.
Provenance
- Source
- figshare
- Collection Method
- X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, as indicated by the title and file context.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-05-27 17:24:24.