A 69-Million-Year Evolutionary Mystery

A 69-Million-Year Evolutionary Mystery: Scientists Discover Oldest Modern Bird
Does a duck always look like a duck and quack like a duck? Sixty-six million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, an asteroid impact near the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico triggered the extinction of all known non-avian dinosaurs.
Earliest Bird Discovery May Settle Long-Running Mystery
"Few birds are as likely to start as many arguments among paleontologists as 'vegavis,'" said professor Christopher Torres.
Ancient Fossil Confirms Early Evolution of Modern Birds
A newly discovered fossil provides strong evidence that modern birds lived alongside dinosaurs. The 69-million-year-old skull of Vegavis iaai, found in Antarctica, features a toothless beak and a brain structure similar to that of present-day birds.
Antarctic Fossil Answers Mysteries of Bird Evolution
Among the many unique qualities of this long-extinct Antarctic bird, it seems to have been the earliest creature that could sing.
Fossil of oldest known modern bird discovered in Antarctica
A 68-million-year-old skull fossil found in Antarctica has revealed the oldest known modern bird, which was likely related to the waterfowl that live by lakes and oceans today, according to new research.
The discovery of this fossil rewrites the history of the origin of birds 🦅
The discovery of a 6-inch (15 cm) fossil of a small bird, 150 million years old, reveals unexpected modern anatomical features. This fossil, named Baminornis zhenghensis, challenges our
New Fossil in China Pushes Bird Origins Back 20 Million Years
The fossil of B. zhenghensis, a bird from the late Middle Jurassic period, was unveiled by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, alongside the Fujian Institute of Geological Survey,
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Antarctica Yields Intact Skull — An Ancestor of Today’s Waterfowl That Survived Dinosaur Extinction
The skull exhibits a long, pointed beak and a brain shape unique among all known birds previously discovered from the ...
After the asteroid, the earliest bird ancestors thrived in Antarctica
With its glaciers and sub-zero temperatures, Antarctica hardly seems like a place of refuge. However, the now icy continent ...
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Fossils of 'Early Modern Bird' Reveal It Existed Before the Asteroid Strike That Likely Wiped Out the Dinosaurs
Fossils of 'Early Modern Bird' Reveal It Existed Before the Asteroid Strike That Likely Wiped Out the Dinosaurs When a ...
Loon-like waterfowl from dinosaur-era Antarctica is oldest 'modern' bird
Near the end of the age of dinosaurs, a bird resembling today's loons and grebes dove for fish and other prey in the perilous ...
The Search for the Original Silly Goose in the Fossil Record
Some paleontologists think that fossils recovered from Antarctica are evidence of birds similar to modern geese and ducks ...
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This 69-Million-Year-Old Duck-like Skull Reveals How Modern Birds Survived the Dinosaurs
The discovery of a 69-million-year-old bird fossil is reshaping our understanding of avian evolution.
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Paleontologists Discover Fossil of the Oldest Known Modern Bird—but It Raises More Questions Than It Answers
The fossil suggests that modern birds evolved before the dinosaur-killing asteroid, perhaps in Antarctica Margherita Bassi ...