Paleontologists Discover Fossil of the Oldest Known Modern Bird—but It Raises More Questions Than It Answers
Paleontologists have been arguing whether modern birds developed before or after the infamous asteroid for decades. Now, a team of researchers has analyzed a 69-million-year-old fossil belonging to the long-extinct bird Vegavis iaai that could put the discussion to rest.
Skull fossil discovery reveals oldest known modern bird
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.
66 million years ago, Antarctica was lush, temperate, and home to the oldest modern bird and T-Rex
A recently analyzed near-complete fossil skull found in Antarctica has revealed Vegavis iaai to be the oldest known modern bird, according to a study published in Nature.
Fossil of the Oldest Known Modern Bird Discovered in Antarctica
A 69 million-year-old skull fossil discovered in Antarctica is an ancient relative of geese and ducks, making it the oldest known modern bird.
69-million-year-old skull found in Antarctica is oldest ‘modern’ bird
The near-complete fossil skull, unearthed on Vega Island near the Antarctic Peninsula, reveals a bird that thrived in the challenging waters off Antarctica roughly 69 million years ago, just three million years before the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact.
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 waters off Antarctica. Thanks to a nearly complete fossil skull, scientists now have identified this waterfowl as the oldest-known member of the lineage spanning all birds alive today.
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 might have been just that for the early ancestors of today’s living waterbirds –especially after an asteroid slammed into the Earth.
Ancient duck-like creature discovered in Antarctica may be the oldest modern bird ever discovered
A new and nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai discovered in Antarctica suggests that modern birds originated before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.
Remarkable Fossil Discovery Hints at Antarctic Origins of All Modern Birds
A near-perfect fossilized skull discovered in Antarctica reveals the bridge between prehistoric and modern birds, a new study has found. The fossil is a specimen of a species called Vegavis iaai, which lived around 69 million years ago – more than 2 million years before the mass extinction that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs.
This 12,500-year-old fossil found on Valentine’s Day 1961 got hearts pounding
The fossil discovered at Sea-Tac Airport is at the Burke Museum, and named for the man who first came across it. Nearly 60% ...
Scientists Think the World's Oldest Dinosaur Fossils May Still Be Awaiting Discovery
That sentiment stems from a new paper published in Current Biology which posits that dinosaur fossils older than we’ve ever ...
Fossil of ancient duck-like creature discovered
Scientists in Antarctica claim they have may have discovered the oldest modern bird ever found. The fossil which is a skull ...
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 ...