The oldest fossil of a modern bird, dating from the age of dinosaurs, has been discovered, a new study reports. The tiny fossil, nicknamed the "wonderchicken," includes a nearly complete skull ...

The last of the mihirungs went extinct around 45,000 years ago. The only skull, found in 1913, was incomplete and badly damaged, raising questions about the giant bird’s face, habits and ancestry.

A 69-million-year-old fossilized skull unearthed in Antarctica could rewrite the history of modern birds. The nearly complete skull belongs to Vegavis iaai, a prehistoric waterfowl species that ...

Around 45 million years ago, a 4.6 foot-tall (1.40 meters) flightless bird called Diatryma roamed the Geiseltal region in southern Saxony-Anhalt. An international team of researchers led by the ...

Geese have a reputation for being aggressive birds, so imagine one that’s more than 6.6 ft tall and weighs about 507 lb. That’s Genyornis newtoni, an Ice Age “thunder bird” from Australia ...

Fossil bird's skull reconstruction reveals a brain made for smelling and eyes made for daylight Date: October 24, 2022 Source: Field Museum Summary: Piecing together the crushed skull of a fossil ...

A fossil skull from a toothy early relative of today's birds shows a weirdly modern skull configuration, raising new questions about the early evolution of birds.

Named Cratonavis zhui, this strange creature appears to lie between the reptilian, long-tailed Archaeopteryx and a present-day bird clade, Ornithothoraces, on its family tree. Archaeopteryx had ...

The researchers have given the bird the scientific name Asteriornis maastrichtensis along with a pet name: the Wonderchicken. Sometime during the Jurassic period, around 165 million years ago, the ...

Despite the bird’s loony body plan and head, the fine details of its skull — including its jaw and beak — show specific traits that suggest waterfowl, Dr. Torres said.