This 69-Million-Year-Old Duck-like Skull Reveals How Modern Birds Survived the Dinosaurs
In the icy wilderness of Antarctica, where glaciers now dominate the landscape, scientists have unearthed a fossil that rewrites the story of modern birds. The nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai, a duck-sized bird that lived 69 million years ago,
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.
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.
Ancient relative of geese is the earliest known modern bird
A newly analysed fossil skull settles a palaeontological debate over Vegavis iaai, confirming it as a relative of ducks and geese that lived 69 million years ago
An important new fossil of the oldest known modern bird
A new study by Ohio University found an important fossil of the oldest known modern bird, which lived in Antarctica when Tyrannosaurus rex ruled North America.
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.
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.
Scientists discover skull of oldest known modern bird
The new skull exhibits a long, pointed beak and a brain shape unique among all known birds previously discovered from the Mesozoic Era.
68 Million-Year-Old Antarctic Fossil Proves Existence Of Dinosaur-Era Ducks
A Cretaceous-era skull found on Vega Island, Antarctica, has been confirmed as a member of the same order as ducks and geese, making it one of the oldest known examples of a modern bird. Dating from not very long before the asteroid hit,
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.
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.
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 ...
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 ...
First bird to roam Earth after dinosaurs were killed by asteroid revealed and it’s a relative of much-loved species
THE long-lost forefather of the beloved duck and goose has been discovered, after outliving the hardy dinosaurs. The ...
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Vegavis_Skull Reconstruction (IMAGE)
Digital reconstruction of the Late Cretaceous (~69 million years old) crown bird Vegavis iaai that was completed following high-resolution micro-computed tomography of a fossil-bearing concretion ...
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Antarctica's Ancient Avians & Other Science Marvels
A fossil from Antarctica unveils the oldest-known modern bird, Vegavis iaai, dating back 69 million years. In Chile, ...
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 ...